The Order of the Pack
by Cinder Luna
Summary: The end of the world happened. Mutant wolf-humans are running free, and with the human race completely destroyed, they have succeeded in creating a civilization, The Order of the Pack. Young male Perseus Jackson, heir to Ocean pack, is headed to the Training Schools to secure a spot in the Mating Games. Will he be able to overcome the challenges ahead of him?
1. In the beginning (prologue)

**So, like I said. Here is the Prologue of _The Order,_ this is my first multi chapter story and I am just trying it out. I know it probably sucks, but I want to know from my readers what I can improve on to make a great story. This does not mean I am giving up on my baby, _Humans meet_ Percabeth, I just want to try something new. So, don't hate me if this is bad, again, I know it is, just let me know what you think I should do, and how to improve. Thanks! **

**Disclaimer: I don't own PJO or anything that is recognizable in this chapter.**

In the beginning, well, before the apocalypse, the human race knew that danger was coming. But they were also guilty of the testing that the scientists were doing on people. Because of the impending doom, scientists were lost at how to keep the human race on the planet, so began the testing. The names of every _civilian_ in North America were put into a draft. One by one, names were drawn and the modifications were made. The scientists mutated the humans and as each modification happened, the slowly were turned into wolves.

The hearing, sense of smell and sight had been heightened and fangs had been implanted into their jaws. Slowly, the entire population was turned into the cross breed of man and wolf.

Now, as the world ended, those whose bodies had been mutated to the extreme, survived the apocalypse. The radiation in the atmosphere killed of the human race, leaving our cross bred mutants and as a unique gift, the radiation left the bodies of these mutants with the ability to change into a wolf. Now each wolf was different, the size, eye colour, coat colour and viciousness were dependent on the 'human' form of these unique creatures.

Slowly but surely, they formed packs, like how the wolves of that these people had known. At the start, there were seven main packs. Each with the Alpha, Beta, Gamma, and Omega wolves, these packs, Gold pack, Silver pack, Lightning pack, Blood pack, Romani pack, Death pack and Ocean pack, formed the Order of the Pack. Each had its own Alpha male and female, and these were decided through something called the Mating Games.

The Games tested a wolf's loyalty to pack mates and family, their courage, their strength, for the females, a maternal instinct, their transformation ability, their speed and their agility. These Games became a tradition put on by the Order every year. Each Games had a board, a leader board showing th points earned for each category and, at the very end, males and females were paired up according to their placement on the board and were Matched, or to set up to mate. It is kind of like getting a boyfriend or girlfriend. It soon became open for not just the children of Alphas', but also to the children of Beta's, Gamma's and even the occasional Omega.

And now dear readers, our story begins centuries after the founding of the Order of the Pack. Soon after the founding happened, wolves broke off and created their own packs, like Wisdom pack, Earth pack, Fire pack, Trickster pack, Dove pack, and many, many more. The Order were in control of these smaller packs, meaning every Games, these packs sent their eligible young wolves (around the age of eighteen to twenty), went to special training schools in the Silver and Gold packs, females to Sliver and males to Gold. There, they trained. Sometimes, there weren't enough spots in the Games, so they waited and trained. Then, when the new batch of eligibles came, the wolves held back the year before would train against these younger, swifter wolves to compete for the 100 or so spots in the Games.

In the arena, they fought for the top spots against those in their gender's group, females vs. females and males vs. males. At the end, the names were portrayed on a giant screen that had been found after the apocalypse, from Times Square in New York City. They went out to the challenges in small groups of seven to ten and then they faced whatever obstacle awaited them. They were assessed and won points for how well they did. During the Games, each female, there were usually about 50, were paired up with a male to train. Their training sessions were monitored, so nothing funny happened. And during the Games, they trained in between challenges, so as to stay prepared for the other challenges. The Games lasted for about a week, and every wolf went back to their training school to sleep in the barracks there.

In the packs now, centuries after the first Games and most definitely the apocalypse, is where our story begins. The Alpha's of the Order and the other, smaller packs were preparing their children, the next group of eligibles, to be sent off to the training schools. These Alpha males and females were strong and loyal to the end of the Order and or their pack.

The Alpha of Lightning pack was Zeus Fulmen. In human form, he was a tall Caucasian male with slightly tanned skin, close cropped blonde hair and electric blue eyes, in wolf form however, he was a rich and creamy honey brown colour, broad shouldered male. His eyes stayed the same intimidating electric blue.

Blood pack's leader was Ares Guerra. He was smaller in size when in human form then Zeus, but he was intimidating as hell. His hair was black and cut in what we know as a buzz cut, his eyes however stood out from his scarred face, they were an eerie blood red. In wolf form, he was just as menacing. His coat was a rich coppery reddish brown, and in the dark, it appeared to be red. His scarlet eyes glittered in the dark and flashed menacingly in daylight.

The Romani pack was special, they were led only by an Alpha female. Her name was Reyna Arellano, she was of average height and was very capable and the perfect leader for the pack that trained the soldiers of the Order. She had long black hair that was always pulled back in a braid, her eyes were midnight black as well. Reyna always wore armor and a long royal purple cape. In her wolf form, she was an all-black female with glittering black eyes that showed no mercy for enemies. Around her neck, there appeared to be a purplish patch that gleamed in the moonlight.

Death pack. Their Alpha was Hades de la Muerte, a small man from which power radiated. His olive toned skin would appear pale in a certain light and his eyes were a glittering beetle black. His hair was greasy and black, it gave him the appearance of a hobo like god. He, in wolf form, was a smaller black and gray male with the same snake like eyes as he had in human form. Hades, unlike the other Alphas in the Order was secluded and carried the oder of Death and decay. So you can see way the other Alphas preferred him to stay in his pack.

Silver, this pack too was run by only a female. The trusted advisors of said Alpha were also female. Enter Artemis Argentum, a small, strong and lithe female whose very presence would cause unrest. She had long chestnut hair the fell to her mid-back and ethereal silver eyes that showed intelligence and strength. She carried, for the most part, a quiver of arrows and a silver bow. The power that radiated off of her could silence even the biggest of crowds. She commanded respect and authority, no one dared to cross her. Her wolf form, had a coat the gleamed like a moon beam in the moonlight. She moved silently through even the thickest of brush and her eyes peaked with interest at the slightest sound. Silver pack housed the female training centre, which Artemis ran and trained the new and older eligibles.

Gold pack was Silver's equivalent. It was run by Apollo Ouro, the pack's lithe Alpha male. He was tall and lean with long golden hair that fell to his shoulders. His eyes were an enticing sapphire blue that shone with a hidden laughter, they stood out from his tanned face. He usually carried a quiver of arrows on his back and had a golden bow slung beside it. His power wasn't as serious as Artemis', but it was still commanding. He too, could silence crowds with the sort of power that radiated off of him, but he was by no means as serious as Artemis. Some Alphas said that he was too immature to be a pack leader, but Apollo didn't care. He, in wolf form, was the colour of a Golden Brush Wolf, so a honey coloured male that was quick and strong. His eyes stayed that same sapphire blue, but were a few shades darker in his wolf form. Gold held the training centre for the males eligibles of the Order and of the males from smaller packs.

Last, but not least, is the Ocean pack. Run by Poseidon Oceanum, this pack is the second largest behind Romani pack. Ocean pack's Alpha was a funny, raven haired man with unique sea-green eyes. He was a kind and fair leader and ran the pack like a seasoned Alpha, putting their needs before his own. He had wind tanned skin and stood slightly larger than Hades, but still smaller than Zeus. Poseidon was strong, intelligent man whose personality clashed with the leader of Wisdom pack, Fredrick Sage, who thought that Wisdom pack should take the place of Ocean in the Order. Poseidon's son was the spitting image of his father, he too had raven black hair and sea-green eyes, but we'll get to him later. In wolf form, Poseidon was a large black male, with the same unique eyes. He was light enough to run without too noise, but strong enough to take down an invading Alpha male, clever with traps (well, knew where they were and how to avoid them) and gentle to any pup who happened to cross his path.

Yes, these leaders had children, like it was said in Ocean pack. The children of these Alphas, if they had any, were young and inexperienced. But someday, the males would rule their home packs with the female they were Mated with. The pups were the future of the packs, some day soon, the young of the Alphas would rule the Order like their parents before them.

 **Again, do leave constructive criticism. I want to know where I can improve. Just a fair warning to all of you that are reading this, if this gets too hard or something like that, there is a possibility that I will delete this story. Just letting you know. And go check out Humans meet Percabeth, I updated last night. So review, review, review with constructive criticism and feedback.**

 **Love you guys,**

 **Your fellow Fictioner and Fangirl,**

 **Cinder Luna**


	2. (Chpt1) The Differences in Life

**I'm back! So happy to finally be writing this fic again, to be honest, I kinda forgot I was writing it until Dimitri Jinx threatened to spam me unless I wrote. So show Dimitri some love, because I probably would have never updated unless she reminded me. Okay story stuff now, the year system is different. This chapter takes place in 400 AA (400 years After the Apocalypse), Percy is twelve years old in this chapter. Simple math will help you find out what year he was born in. I also recently noticed that I put Reyna down as the Alpha of Romani pack, it should be Bellona Arellano. Just want make that clear, Rey Rey will show up later. So, a thank you to those who have reviewed and I can't wait to really kick off the plot! And thanks to my lovely Beta, Dimitri Jinx! So, let's go!**

 **Disclaimer: FYI, I am not a dude, nor am I Rick Riordan. Therefore, I cannot possibly own PJO or HoO or anything that you may recognize.**

 **Percy's POV**

Woah! Sorry, I didn't see there. Did I hit you? My name is Percy, well actually it's Perseus, but don't ever call me that. I absolutely hate it. Okay, I'm getting completely off track, my full name is Perseus 'Percy' Jackson, I am 12 years old and the heir to Ocean pack, the best pack in my opinion and it is also one of the largest in The Order. For the past few years, ever since I was six I have been training for when I am old enough to enter the training school, _Aurum ludum_ , which is the male training centre. Please tell me you know what the training schools are, right?You don't? Ugh, this is like the second time I've had to explain this, to my little brother Tyson and now you. So, there are two training schools, _Aurum ludum_ and _Argentum ludum,_ they train the eligible children of The Order and other pups that have become eligible. These eligibles train for about six months in order to sec...secuer, no secure! Sorry, I'm reading out of a thing the schools give you once you make it in and I'm sorta dyslexic. What was I saying? Oh yeah, training for six months to secure a spot in the Games. Being the son of an Alpha, I have a guaranteed spot in Aurum, but I won't be given a spot in the Games. You do know what the Games are? Please tell me that you do, I had a hard enough time explaining the training schools. No? Fern feet! Anyways, they are held every year to determine mates, I just hope I don't end up getting matched with a Wisdom pack female.

Line Break

Wisdom pack is Ocean pack's rival. I heard my dad say that the Wisdom pack is a "brain-washed cult of moronic spas wolves who know nothing." I kid you not, that's what he said in a meeting, the council of The Order, I being his son, got to listen to what was being discussed. I have to agree with dad on this one, Wisdom pack is nothing but a bunch of know-it-alls who want to prove that they "deserve" a spot in the Order. Not going to happen. Even when I'm Alpha, I will make sure that they don't get what they want and that they will stay a lone pack outside The Order. I will assure you that… "Percy?" Spoke someone from outside my room.

"Yes mom?"

"Who are you talking to?" My mother's voice was concerned.

"Just myself mom. And why are you up here? Shouldn't you be on your way to the meeting with dad?" I asked, embarrassed that my mom caught me talking to myself.

"No honey, I had to stay with Estelle and Tyson. She was fussing and Tyson was trying to get your old armour on and naturally, he got stuck. So I had to give Alice a break from them for a few hours." Said my mom, entering the room.

Now let me tell you something, my mom tells me that I am the perfect combination of her and Dad. I have his midnight, unruly black hair and naturally tanned skin, but I have the combination of their eyes, my dad's green, my mom's blue and my mom's love of training and reading. Don't look so shocked, as a future Alpha, I have to be well read. It is just that dyslexia makes it hard .

"Percy, honey, are you feeling alright? You shouldn't train this hard, it isn't good for you at this age…." She said, fussing over me.

"Mom! Stop, I'm fine, just a little tired, that's all." I told her, trying to stop the avalanche of Mom coming at me.

She smiled, "Okay, but if you were fine, would you be…...ticklish?" She lunged at me, fingers aimed for my stomach.

I scrambled away from her, and in doing so, fell off the bed. My mom took the opportunity to keep tickling me while I was still on the ground. "Mom…...st..stop!" I gasped.

"Sally, his belly's up. What's the point?" Said a deep voice coming from the doorway.

"Dad."

"Hello son. What's happening? Did someone start a tickle war without me?" He said, voice rumbling.

"Poseidon...no!" My mom's voice cut off with a shrill shriek followed by laughter. My dad had taken advantage of the situation and started to tickle my mom.

"S….stop!" My mom choked out, between her laughs.

"Never!" Cried my dad.

I had to laugh at the scene before me. My dad had pinned my mom on her back and was tickling her without mercy, my mom on the other, was crying from laughter. It was amazing to see that they acted like newly Matched, they had been mated for 15 years but they were still super cute with each other.

"Hey dad?" I asked over my mom's giggles.

"Yes Percy?" He said, not taking his eyes off my mom.

"Aren't you late for the meeting?"

"Fliting fern feet! I am late, I'd better be going." He swore, then caught my mom's look.

"Dad, can I come with you?" I asked him, hoping that he'd say yes.

"Not today son. There are matters to attend to that aren't for you to know about just yet." He responded, a inkling of gilt in his voice for saying no.

"Is it about Titan pack?" I asked. Having heard the name once, I wanted to know more about them.

His green eyes widened, "Where did you hear that name?" His voice was quiet. Behind me, I heard my mom tense, awaiting my answer.

I coughed, looking at my feet as I spoke "I may or may not have heard you mention it to Chiron before training the other day. You said something about how restraints are being tested and that we cannot prevent the inevitable."

"Percy, look at me." My father's voice was gentle, yet firm. "Don't repeat what you heard from me to anyone, do you understand? If word gets out, it will caused mass panic and chaos. We will find a solution, for now, forget that you heard anything."

I nodded, the look on my parents' faces was enough to make me curl up in a ball underneath my covers and never come out. My dad broke the small, yet awkward silence that had settled. "I have to go, Sally. I will see you two later, and remember what I said, Perseus."

I nodded, watching as he left, for the first time I realized that we weren't living in a perfect world.

 **Annabeth's POV**

I am known as Wisdom's daughter. Hi, my name is Annabeth Chase, I am 11 years old and I am currently sitting in in a tiny, stone-walled room in The Big House of Ocean pack. Father, Frederick Sage to The Order and Frederick Chase to us, said that it was important for us to know what was going on in The Order and outside of it, so I always attend meetings with him and my brother Malcolm, who is 14. I waited patiently with my dad and brother in this small, sparsely furnished room, an antechamber off the meeting room. We were waiting for the Alpha of Ocean pack to announce the meeting into order so we could finally leave this small, cramped room. Sighing, my brother turned to my dad, "Father, I cannot bear another minute. Are you sure that this meeting isn't a waste of time? We all know that Ocean pack is never punctual."

"Well that may be true, my son, we know that it must be important because Poseidon would never host us otherwise." Came father's reply.

I opened my mouth to remark that Ocean pack was a group of morons running around acting like they had power, but before I could say anything, a creaking noise broke the silence and the large oak door opened, leading us into the meeting room.

"Greetings Alphas and Frederick." Boomed the Alpha of Ocean pack, Poseidon Oceanum or otherwise known as Jackson. Father simply nodded, though his eyes glinted with something I hadn't seen in him before, malice.

"Thank you Poseidon for hosting us on such short notice." Greeted Artemis Argentum, the Alpha of Silver pack.

"Yes, we appreciate it." Nodded Zeus Fulmen.

"Frederick, I did not know that it was 'Take our kids to private meeting day.'" Remarked Apollo Aurum, glancing at me in my tiny chair, that enabled me to barely see over the top of the large oak table.

"If you don't mind, Mr. Aurum, my sister is able to handle the material discussed at these meetings and so am I. So forgive me for being so forward, but we are allowed to be in such a meeting, you, I would question your ability and maturity to lead such a large pack." Retorted Malcolm.

"Hey, both of you, stop it! This is not the time or place to be acting so childish." Hylla Arellano chided, both Apollo and Malcolm.

"Anyways, Alphas and children, we are here to discuss the Titan pack problem. Now, to start us off, are there any new developments?" Poseidon addressed the group.

"I have something." Said Hades Muerte, "Some of our soldiers near the border between us and Titan pack have noticed prints near our territory. My guess is they were scouting for guards or something, or trying to access information from us. Either way, there were scouts outside our borders."

"Thank you Hades, does anyone else have something to report?"

"I do, Poseidon. I have children and I found tracks inside our territory not too long ago with glossy midnight black fur in some of the prints. None of the wolves in Earth pack have midnight black fur, I would know. As Alpha female, I have the coat colour of every wolf in the registration books. I am worried for the sake of my daughters and the pack members, the last thing I need is Titan pack breathing down my neck." Demeter Holly told the group.

Most pups of my age would be dumbfound confused at to what all of the alphas were talking about, whereas I understood it perfectly. It's a perk of being Wisdom's daughter.

Line Break

Now, the rest of the meeting went exactly like that. Alphas sharing the information gathered by their border guards and the civilians of their packs. Seriously, it was boring, yet I understood it perfectly. I could tell by the way Apollo slumped in his chair, by the way that Hephaestus Blaze fiddled with machine parts under the table top and the way Hermes Stoll tapped his foot quietly on the floor, that almost everyone was bored listening to Father speak. I couldn't fault them for it, I was bored as well. I sighed, "Hey Mal," I whispered, "Please tell me you're bored too."

"Oh don't worry sis, I'm so sick of listening to him talk, I keep wishing for Sorren to bust me out of here." He muttered just loud enough for me to hear.

"Yeah, I need Rayla here. I am dying of boredom and I really need a sarcastic comment right here and now." I replied in a low voice.

He let out a low chuckle. I snickered and Hermes gave us a small knowing smile that seemed to say "I know how you two must feel".

Line Break

In case you were wondering, Sorren and Rayla are siblings and are also in Wisdom pack. Their father, Rain Gables is an advisor to my father, so we met when we were quite young, as newborn pups. Rayla and I are the same age and my brother Malcolm and her brother, Sorren are the same age as well. So put two and two together and you have two sets of best friends. Sorren is fourteen just like Malcolm and has tawny brown hair, curious brown eyes ringed with grey, semi tanned skin, a spray of freckles across his nose and a pair of black square glasses. Rayla and I are also similar, she has light brown hair, wide grey eyes that are ringed with light blue, lightly tanned skin from training with me and has a small scar under her right eye that her brother gave her while they were training together. We both love reading, writing and training, we do most of them together.

"Annabeth, do you have something you would like say on the theory you proposed to your father?" Asked Zeus, snapping me out of my thoughts.

"I beg your pardon?" I asked, standing up to address the council, but still noticing the glare on Father's face. "Oh yes, my theory. I believe that the soldiers or whatever they may be are trying to learn the strengths and weaknesses of each Alpha and find a way to target it. It is nothing spectacular, but this may account for the lurking scouts just outside the borders of your territories."

There was a stunned silence, then Poseidon found his voice, "And you believe this why?"

"Because they didn't attack, only prowled around, never stepping across the borders. And because every pack here has heard accounts or stories of at least one sighting of these wolves. It is not like Titan pack to send soldiers out on pointless missions" I said, feeling confident in my answer.

"Of course, great job my dear." Complimented the most peaceful one in the room, the Hearth Keeper Hestia. She lived in Lightning pack and made sure that the sacrificial flame to Lupa, The Mother Wolf never died out.

"Thank you Hearth Keeper." I responded, sitting back onto my tiny chair.

"Well," Poseidon stood and captured the attention of the Alphas once again. "That was…..informative, to say the least. So, I will dismiss this meeting, leaving that _**theory**_ fresh in your minds. Thank you all for coming so quickly."

Line Break

We stood, as the meeting ended, with Father and shook hands with the other Alphas. "I am sorry for the worry the Prowlers have caused your pack." I told, Demeter Holly, while shaking her hand. "No one should be prowling near your pack, you are peaceful. I can't imagine why they would investigate you."

"Thank you, my dear. But I believe that it is best for you to leave this to the Order. I simply don't want you to get hurt, my daughters Katie, Miranda and Poppy would be devastated if something happened to you." She responded kindly.

"Annabeth, your theory was most insightful. Thank you for sharing it." Mumbled Hades Muerte.

"Thank you Sir, it means a lot to hear that from you." I said shyly.

"Little girl, your idea was good. You know what to say." Ares Guerra boomed, pumping my hand up and down, I gave him a stiff smile, while cringing at his inability to create long sentences.

"My dear, have you considered becoming a battle strategist? We could use someone like you in Romani, most of our strategists think that scouts are soldiers in disguise, trying to kill us. We need a fresh pair of eyes." Asked Bellona Arellano, after Mr. Guerra departed.

"To be honest, I haven't considered it. But maybe, if you want to whip your strategists into a fresh perspective, you could tell them that they were bested by an 11 year old girl." I told her with a small laugh.

She laughed, "I most certainly will do that. But let's keep the theory under wraps until they open their eyes wide enough to see that other possibilities exist."

I smiled, "Let's do that."

"Annabeth, it is time for us to leave." Father said, beckoning me over to where he and Malcolm stood.

"Of course Father. Just let me grab my notebook." I told him, running over to where I had sat during the meeting. The notebook had disappeared from its spot.

As I fumbled around my chair and under the table, I felt a tap on my shoulder. I started, my head hitting the underside of the table with a thud. "Would this be the aforementioned notebook?" Asked Hermes Stoll, an innocent smile playing on his features.

"It would be mine, now how did it end up in your possession?" I snapped, rubbing the back of my head.

"It fell on the floor during the meeting, I happened to pick it up." He shrugged.

I snatched it from his palm with a snarl and stalked back to Father and Malcolm, holding my prize.

"Are you ready sis?" Malcolm asked.

"Yes I am, are you?" I responded, placing the precious notebook into my satchel.

"Let's go Annabeth, Malcolm." Father said, standing by the door, leading back into the tiny antechamber, which lead outside.

I started walking towards the door, Malcolm trailing behind me. "We're coming Father." I told him.

Line Break

Once outside, the cold night wind hit us, causing a simultaneous shiver to run through our bodies. We quickly shifted and I sighed, enjoying the warmth that my well-kept silver coat gave me. I blinked, looking at Mal and seeing him in his dark grey coat, watching me with his iron coloured eyes. I gave him a toothy grin and scanned my surroundings, something my mother taught me when I was very young. As I slowly studied the area, I noticed something strange, another wolf was watching me. From what I could see, it...no he, had a shaggy black coat and unique sea-green eyes. His gaze was calculating, observing every inch of me, Mal and Father. I recognized the gaze, it was the same look I used on a regular basis to study visitors at the Wisdom pack Big House. I blinked, turning away to see if Malcolm had seen the strange wolf as well and he had. He was snarling softly in the direction of this wolf, who was snarling back. I took a tentative step forward, "No, stand back." Father said, leaping in front of both of us. He growled at this stranger and I felt the hair on my back stand up as I watched the exchange between these two males. The black wolf yipped in surprise, seeing who stood with us and winked in my direction before sauntering off into the moonlight, where the light caught the hair on his back and caused it to shine silver like my own. I blinked in surprise as I realized what this wolf had so boldly done, I turned back to Father who had pinned me under his gaze. "Do you know that wolf Annabeth?"

"N-no Father. I have never seen him in my life and how would I?." I stuttered, watching the look on his face and Malcolm's.

"Good, now let's go before it brings its friends." Malcolm said, trying to ease the tension of the situation.

"Let's." Father agreed.

We took off through the night, Father leading us home and Mal at my back, making sure I didn't fall behind. As I followed Father, I thought about the meeting and how each pack had been targeted, except us and Ocean pack. We were the closest to the border between the sub-Order and Titan pack, so why hadn't we had a visitor or visitors? Was Father keeping something from me and Malcolm? Or were they both trying to keep a greater truth from escaping? Why were we spared, but Earth pack hadn't been? These questions rolled around in my head as I ran, getting closer to home with every bound. But, my head always jumped back to one question, who was that wolf and why did I get the feeling I knew him from somewhere? Either way, something wasn't right, I didn't know how right my theory would be one day, especially not now when anything could be possible.

 **So, how was the first chapter of my first multi-chapter? If it was terrible, let me know. I am always looking to improve, so constructive criticism is welcome. I spent the entire week on this, so some parts may sound off. If you liked it, drop a review, follow or favourite. I have nothing more to say, except thanks for reading!**

 **Your fellow Fictioner and Fangirl,**

 **Cinder Luna :)**


	3. (Chpt2) The Pain Life Holds

**So, Fictioners, I'm incredibly late. But I was trying to come up with something good for you guys as a late holiday gift. I have been watching so many movies and it was keeping me from writing. I saw The Last Jedi in theaters and I loved it! I also watching the live-action Beauty and the Beast for the sixth time! The little blurb is from it, and this song is stuck in my head for the last few days, so yea. How was your Christmas or whatever else you celebrate? Hopefully, it was full of food and happiness. Let's just say that mine was wonderful and I received next to no clothing as presents. Whoop! My dear friends, Another Wise Girl xx, Dimitri Jinx and Girlishly Greek have been wonderfully patient and I know the rest of you been too. Thank you to my amazing Beta, Dimitri Jinx and thank you for waiting forever to see this next chapter, so here you go with chapter two of The Order of the Pack.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own any of Rick Riordan's amazing characters, sadly. But, the Gods work wonders don't they?**

* * *

" **Now I know she'll never leave me.**

 **Even as she fades from view.**

 **She will still inspire me,**

 **Be a part of everything I do."**

 **-Evermore, Beauty and the Beast**

* * *

 **7 years later**

 **Percy's POV**

I sat with my father as he listened to the accounts sent to us by Demeter Holly of Earth pack, "...of late, well over 8 scouting parties have passed through the area, some being bold enough to cross the border. These Prowlers are getting weary of waiting and a few attacks have been noted, a young girl, Laurel Barrow, was stolen off in the middle of the night and may not be alive. There have been others, more gruesome than I wish to say, but blood and fur have been found, whether belonging to the Prowlers or to our attacked members, I do not know..." Read out the Earth pack messenger.

"Wait a moment, Father, why have the Black Claw Prowlers attacked every pack except ours and Wisdom? It seems peculiar, attack the most peaceful pack and not one of the most powerful?" I pondered.

"Daddy!" Rang out voice, cutting off my father's response. I sighed, my little sister Estelle had escaped her nurse and burst into the room.

"Percy, can you….?" My father started, but I was already on my feet.

"Come here Little Star, let's go find Mom and Alice." I said, grabbing her hand and leading her out of the room.

"Okay Percy!" She chirped happily.

"Percy, Percy, why can't I see Daddy right now?" Estelle asked, confusion spreading over her features. Now let me tell you something, Estelle is sadly not my actual sister. She is the daughter of my father's deceased advisor, Neptune Bay and his wife, Indra. They died seven years ago on a diplomatic trip to Noctern pack. My parents adopted her, so now, I have a little sister.

"Little Star, Daddy's doing very important work. Your cuteness would distract him." I told, tickling her stomach.

She giggled profusely "Percy, I found Mommy!" She pointed down the hall.

"Mom, could you….?" I asked, gesturing back to the Great Hall.

"Of course Percy. Now Little Star, what should we do now?" My mother asked Estelle, a tender smile on her face.

"Can we train, Mommy?" She asked, looking up at my mother hopefully.

"Of course we can!" She beamed. "Are you ready?" She took Estelle by the hand and led her down the hall. All the while Estell had a skip in her walk and was waving back at me. I grinned and waved back. She giggled then skipped off with mom.

I watched them go, thinking about how lucky I was to have a family like them. But something was missing, that one void I could never fill, the hole I could never plug. It haunted me day and night. A thought that never truly left me. Her death caused me pain every day I lived and she didn't, one day, we would have had a family. But that all changed the night of the attack.

* * *

 _We sat on the hill behind the building, watching the moon rise and enjoying each other's company. "Percy, would this ever work out?"_

" _Hey, don't say that. We are perfect together, You are perfect." I said, facing her._

" _Why do I get the feeling that we won't? I love you, but I don't want to put you in danger. My father isn't a forgiving man, he could kill us both for this Matching." She laid her palm on my arm, her beautiful green eyes gleaming in the moonlight, but I could see the sadness buried within them._

" _Y-You love me?"_

" _Of course I do. You thought I didn't? Percy, we're Matched and soon, Mated. Why wouldn't I…"_

 _She never got to finish her sentence, for an arrow hurtled towards us from the shadows. I shoved her down, my ears pricked up, listening for the threat. "We need to go. We aren't safe here." I said, pulling her to her feet._

 _We ran back to the hostel, our breathing ragged and full of terror. The red headed girl gasped," Percy, the door is locked. We won't be able to…" THUD!_

 _An arrow embedded itself in the wall beside her. I felt so many emotions running through me at once. I was terrified and furious. Who could do this? When I get my hands on them I'll make sure that they pay for scaring her, endangering her. I scowled in frustration. "This isn't going to work, there isn't another way in. Stay here RED, I'll find whoever this is." I ran off, leaving her by the wooden door._

 _That was the worst mistake of my life, that split second decision of taking off and leaving her behind. It was also the last time I ever saw her alive. "PERCY!" I heard her scream pierce through the air. Hurtling back towards the door, I saw the masked figure holding her, a blade against her throat._

" _Don't move little Prince, or her blood is on your hands." The figure commented slyly._

" _Percy, don't! I'll be fine, this is all the work of Titan…" That was all I could hear before the inevitable scream and just like that they were gone. All I saw was scarlet red staining the ground. Her blood soaking into the moonlit ground. I collapsed to my knees in front of the pool of blood. I howled into the night. They would pay. I had a new goal in life, to avenge the death of my Matched, my RED, Rachel ._

* * *

"Percy, Percy!" Came a voice, breaking through my flashback and snapping me back to reality.

"Huh? What's going on?" I slurred, my voice jumbled through my disorientation. I was laying on the floor outside the Great Hall, my mother, father, Tyson, Estelle and some of our staff standing over me.

"You passed out Percy. Something upset you or you remembered...oh." My father told me, in a calm voice, I could detect worry buried deep in his swirling eyes.

Shaking my head, I pulled myself to my feet, "I'm fine. You don't need to baby me, I'm a grown male now." I said, perhaps too harshly. I saw Tyson's face crumple and tears started to leak out of his eye. "Hey, buddy. I'm sorry. I just need to be by myself for a bit, okay? After that, we can do something together, I promise." I smiled reassuringly at him.

"Okay Percy!" He crowed happily, and a little too loudly.

I headed in the direction of my room, my head aching from falling and flashback or call it what you will, memories. I stumbled into the spacious room and flopped down on my large bed, "It's no use", I thought to myself, "Why would Gold School accept me again? I already had my chance and I blew it."

My thoughts kept coming after me like a swarm of angry hornets, buzzing and swirling, all of them too painful for right now. I shook my head, hoping to ward off these thought-hornets, it didn't help. "Maybe I just need a nap." I said to myself, my head aching and with my thoughts pulsing, I fell asleep.

* * *

I slowly pushed myself off the bed with a groan, looking out the window told me that it was nearly nightfall, my favourite time of the day. And no, I'm not all dark and despair, like a Death pack wolf or something, I love that time because in the moonlight, the biggest threat is yourself. You make your own choices on how you will approach a jump, how far you will run before turning back, how the sky is a deep cobalt colour and the trees cast shadows that are as black as, what's the black rock? Obsideen, no that isn't right, aha! Obsidian! The shadows of the trees are as black as obsidian and they are perfect cover for a black wolf.

"Percy?" Called a voice outside my door.

"Who is it?" I answered back, perhaps a little too snappily than I meant.

"It's me." That clears it up to…..just about everyone in this freaking house.

"Me who?" I sighed.

"Percy, can I come in?" Came my mother's voice. "You've been in there for hours."

"Sure, why not?"

My door swung open and Estelle came flying at me. I squeaked in surprise, catching her before she ran into me, knocking me down. My mother stood in the doorway, smiling softly at the two of us. "She missed her big brother."

"Did you miss me, Little Star?" I asked her, poking her in the stomach.

She giggled, "Yes, why are you in your room? Did you get in trouble?" Her eyes went round.

"No, Little Star, I was tired and I was thinking." I reassured her. "Now let's go get some food, I'm hungry."

"You're always hungry, Percy." She giggled.

"That may be true Little Star, but what do you think about getting some ice cream?" I smirked at my mother.

Her eyes went wide and her smile enlarged with a gap between her two front teeth. "Ice cream! I want Ice cream! Can we get some mint chip?" She squealed.

I looked up at my mom who stood in the doorway.

She sighed. " First dinner then ice cream."

"Ice cream and cookies?" Pleaded Estelle.

She turned to my mother and gave her undeniable and adorable puppy eyes.

My mother picked up my little sister.

"Yes we can have ice cream and cookies my little girly."

I lifted up my head. "Blue cookies?"

My mom smiled back at me. "Always." She looked down at Estelle and spoke in a higher pitched voice. "Now, you and I are going to make dinner while your big brother takes a shower."

My eyebrows furrowed and I stood up abruptly. "Hey!"

"Percy smells yucky." Estelle giggled.

"Double hey!" I said, offended.

The two girls burst into fits of laughter.

I growled in defeat and stormed off to the bathroom. This only made the girls laugh more. Maybe a shower would do me some good. I pressed my toes up against the cool tiles and stripped my clothes. I stepped into the shower and allowed the hot water to trickle against my bare skin. I sighed, why was being heir to Ocean pack so hard?

* * *

After hanging my head under the running water for a good forty-five minutes to an hour, I dragged myself out from underneath the water. Drying myself off, I looked into the steam-covered mirror and sighed. My life was so complicated now. With my royal duties and watching out for my siblings, adoptive or not, I was willing to do whatever I had to do to succeed at the job that was handed to me. I received these duties as soon as I was born and that, my friends, makes me want to curl up in a ball and return to my childhood. But, no, I've come too far to give up now.

Shaking the water from my hair, I pulled on a clean pair of loose black pants the kind that I trained in. I squelched back to my chambers doing up the tie on my pants and pulled out a plain white t shirt. Pulling it on, I descended the oak stairs, doing my best not to fall on my face.

Nodding to a courier, I slipped into the kitchens and saw my mother arguing with the chef. "...and you're telling ME, your Alpha Female, to leave the kitchens?! I got you this position, I can sure as hell take it away!"

"But, but…." Sputtered the chef, fear flashing clearly in his yellowy-green orbs.

"Butts are for sitting on. Now if you will kindly get out of my way, I would like to make my family dinner." I could see from the shadows of the entryway, that my mother wasn't going to back down. She glared at the large man in such a way, she looked like she belonged in Silver pack, shaping young, disagreeable females into warrior mothers. My mom was a force to be reckoned with. She could be the kindest person in the universe, however you should never cross her. She will always and I mean always get her way.

The chef passed me in the entryway, "Your mother is one hell of a….".

"Don't you dare insult my mother." I hissed at him, my blood starting to boil.

"Hey mom, is it safe for me to come into the room, or are you on a mission to intimidate the hell out of all of the help?" I said, trying for a joke.

My mother whipped around, startled. "Percy, watch your language, your sister is in the room."

"I know, I was trying to stop a bloodbath for her sake." I cowered slightly at her tone.

"Yes Percy, I'm…" She sighed.

"Percy!" A little blonde blur came flying at me from underneath the table, knocking me to the ground. "You don't smell! Finally!" She giggled.

"Hey!" I quickly shot at her small insult, as I fell to the ground.

Hello Little Star, are you helping mom?" I gasped, from my current position on the floor.

"I was, but then the scary man came in and started yelling at mommy." Estelle told me, her grin dropping from her little, freckle-covered face.

"Why don't you help me peel these Estelle? You did it all by yourself last week, Percy…?" Mom asked, moving around the kitchen with ingredients.

Estelle jumped up from the floor with a brand new smile etched on her lips. She waddled over to the table.

"Yes, I will watch her and help her. And what are these apples for?" I reassured her, as I stood up from the marble floor.

"Apple pie, now can you help your sister, please ?" She pointed her elbow towards my Little Star, who was attempting to peel an apple, but falling short. She was doing it, but only removing tiny pieces of the apple's rosy skin. I chuckled because she had the cutest expression when she was concentrating. She bit her lip and her brows furrowed and it was adorable.

"Do you need help, Little Star?"

"No." She told me, her eyes locked on the apple.

"No?" I asked with an eyebrow raised.

"No thank you." She corrected.

"Hey mom, what do you need me to do?" I asked her, "I can multitask, you know, watch Estelle and do something else."

"Percy, just watch you sister. I've seen what happens when you multitask, chaos ensued." She grinned.

"Okay fine." I huffed in defeat and turned back around only to see Estelle miss the apple and drop the knife, the blade heading straight for her foot. Lunging, I grabbed the blade by its handle. "That, I'm guessing is why." I said standing back up.

"Estelle, sweetheart, why doesn't Percy take you to find Tyson? You can play with him until dinner is ready." My mom suggested, giving me the evil eye as I walked my sister out of the kitchen.

* * *

I led her out of the kitchens, holding on to her little hand. She looked up at me, happiness playing on her features. "She doesn't know of pain and heartbreak", I thought to myself, "I would hate to witness that. Such childish innocence can only get you so far…..".

I was thrown out of my thoughts as she let go of my hand and raced across the floor to Tyson, who was sitting on the floor of his room, his head in his hands. "Tyson, what's going on?" I asked, kneeling beside him.

He raised his head, his good eye glinted with tears. "It's today." He told me simply. And I knew exactly what he was talking about.

Today was the third anniversary of the Black Claw raid on the Omega families living in the outskirts of Ocean pack. He was only eleven when it happened, and the memory haunts him to this day. The memory of his family dying at the hands, or rather, the paws of the Black Claw would stay with him forever. I hated to see him in this much pain, it tore me apart every year on this day. "Hey buddy, do you want me to leave?" I asked him, cautiously so to not upset him further.

"No. Could you stay here, please?" Tyson muttered tearfully.

"Of course, buddy. I'm right here." I told him, giving him a large hug. He cuddled into me, the last of his tears falling down his cheeks and onto my shoulder. I didn't mind it at all, I just knew that I wanted to be here for him. Estelle was too young to understand what had happened. She just knew Tyson was sad, and that made her sad. She snuggled up to him and gave him a big hug. We all sat on the floor of his room, playing long forgotten. I don't know how long we stayed like that, but Tyson eventually fell asleep. I sighed, my hope for peace in my heart would probably never come true, but at least I knew that my family was safe. RED was in a better place, dining at the table of the gods, but she would make my life so much easier here on the Earth. The battle with the Black Claw and Titan pack was overwhelming, but darkness brought light and good would come with the bad.

"Why did you have to go RED?" I whispered before falling into a dream state, my siblings beside me. I hadn't felt safer in years.

* * *

 **Review answers (might not happen all the time):**

 **Fulcrum Tano:** **Aww thanks! I didn't know there was a 'wink' in the last chapter, thanks for pointing it out, I guess.**

 **Dimitri Jinx:** **I am terrified now, thanks for that. I will promise to try and get the next chapter out soon, but it's hard. My first multi chapter story, waaaay to hard to get plot moving and going a certain way, but I am grateful for all of the help you have given me, as a friend and a Beta. I love and appreciate you so much! Thank you for everything, and I will remake Rayla's character sheet so that there is a copy of it. Love you lots! 3**

 **lifeNbooks:** **I would love to hear more about the possibility of an amazing plot. If there is something to it, let me know. I do want to learn from my mistakes.**

 **Another Wise Girl xx:** **If I haven't already told you, you reviewing and following my story means a lot. You are so talented and I am grateful for your feedback, I am still figuring everything out. I will add that in next chapter, I kinda forgot to in this one, so yeah. I have created your character, her name in Caylin Morrigan. Hope you like this chapter, it certainly took me long enough. Oops!**

 **GirlishlyGreek:** **Claire should come in soon! I am so happy you like her! It meant a lot to repay the kindness you have shown me. I will try and get her in the next few chapters, maybe later on, but I will use her, I swear on the River...nah, I'd rather not get cursed for all eternity, but I will swear on my duty as a Fangirl. You nd the fandom may disown me should I forget. *setting reminders in phone, on computer, putting notes on walls* Love you lots! -xxx-**

* * *

 **So, I know I missed awhile, but how was this chapter? I am genuinely curious, so if it sucks, please tell me so. Anyways, can we please get to 18 reviews? I don't ask for much, but my updates could possibly become shorter and shorter, so yeah. I'm kidding, I'm kidding, or am I? I will promise to start the next chapter right away, like in two or three days, because I am still off school! Again, I'm so sorry for the delay. I love you all, don't forget to favourite, follow and review!**

 **Your fellow Fictioner, Fangirl and Order Member,**

 **Cinder Luna :P**


	4. (Chpt3) Friends and Family

**So I suck at keeping my promises. I am so so so sorry! I had alot of schist going on and I have been super busy trying to finish stuff for school. Thank god, Spring Break is here! But this chapter really sucks and I am sorry it took so long. I won't try and give excuses for the MIA period I took for three months, but at least the chapter is done. So that is some good news. Like I said before, I am on a break from Hell, sorry school, so I have the chance to get lots of writing done. Hopefully I will update a few more time over my hiatus from school. So here you guys go, I love all my Fictioners for staying with me.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own anything that sounds familier, the characters created by Mr. R. Riordan are not mine, sadly.**

* * *

" **We were never welcome here,**

 **We were never welcome here at all."**

 **-It's Time by Imagine Dragons**

* * *

 **Annabeth's POV**

I'm really sick of the bumbling courtiers. Especially this one. "Markus, I said that file goes on that pile, take it over there now."

"Yes, Miss. I will do that now." Markus said, bowing.

"Yo, Markus. She said over _**there,**_ twice." Said a new voice, disdain present in their voice.

"Miss Rayla. I am not taking orders from an illegitimate. And I heard Miss Annabeth, I was on my way." Markus retorted.

"Markus! That is enough. You are lucky I don't relieve you of your duties right here and now. You don't talk to my best friend like that, let alone when her father is important to our pack's finances. Get out of my sight now! And put the damn file on the pile beside the door as you leave." I ordered, my rank clear in the tone of my voice.

Markus grumbled his displeasure and slammed the file on top of the ever growing pile, knocking them over as he slammed the door. "That son of a….." Rayla protested.

"Easy Ray. I can always fire him when he gets like that, but I don't. So, forget about him, why are you here?"

"What's this? I can't even visit my friend because she won't drop the 'royal' vocabulary? I just wanted to see you." Rayla responded, an impish grin playing on her features. "So, are you excited to head to Silver School or what?"

"Is that even a question? Of course I am! But, I'd rather not travel through all of the packs, picking up eligibles." I told her.

"Same here. So, any new messages from Luke?" Rayla asked, slyly.

"No, nothing has come through, and we are just _**friends.**_ " I responded, my cheeks turning slightly pinker.

"Mmmmhmmmm, sure hun. You are just "friends", don't you forget I saw his last message. What was it? Oh yeah, "... _I hope that we see each other soon and that we are Matched during this year's Games."_ She repeated dramatizing the message from Luke. "He is entering his third Games and third Training season, if he doesn't get Matched in the next few years, he will be out of luck." Rayla pointed out and if possible, my cheeks got even redder.

"It was a hope. I don't think it means anything, he is the only male I know that will be going to the school. It is better than being Matched to a complete stranger." I said, defending myself.

"What about the Mystery Male?" She wriggled her eyebrows, " The one you saw like, seven years ago?" Rayla said, her grey eyes twinkling with mischief. She crossed the room and sat down in my spinning desk chair, propping her feet on the desktop.

"What about him?" I began while crossing my arms. " I don't even know how old he was then or who he is. Besides, he could have been killed in that Black Claw raid three years ago." I told her.

"Yeah, but he might be alive. You did say that his eyes were markless except the swirling greens and blues, right?" I nodded, not sure where she was going with this. "Don't royals or leaders of the packs have the clearest colour of eyes?" Rayla continued. Man she wouldn't let this go.

"But look at Sorren's eyes, aren't they pure grey?" I countered.

"Nope, they have brown flecks in them." She responded. "He is most likely an Heir or something and probably also headed to Gold. Either way, you might meet him and fall in love and…"

I sighed, "Ray, stop. I highly doubt that will happen, there is no way it will happen." I told her, my temper slowly rising.

"Even _**you**_ aren't always right. Especially not now." Rayla said, her voice raising.

"I'm not saying I'm always right, I am just saying that it isn't logical to dwell on the fact that he may be alive. I don't even know him. Therefore what you are saying is completely preposterous." I snapped. I never snapped at Rayla, this was bad.

"Fine, don't believe me." She snapped, standing up and stomping to the door. "I know that this guy is special, or at least he will be. Don't doubt me on this. You and I both know I am right. You're just too stubborn and full of yourself too see it." She slammed the door behind her and I could hear the cries of servants jumping back to avoid Rayla from knocking them over.

* * *

I am such an idiot and sadly, I do know that she is right. Of course there's a chance that this mystery wolf is still alive. And yes, I know that there is a possibility he may be the same age as me and in the games at me. Ugh, I hate being wrong, now I sound like Rayla. I can't let her know she's right, she'll get a big head from it and never let me forget it. I know I'm too stubborn to see it, but so is she! We're equally stubborn which is why this makes the situation so frustrating. Breathe Annabeth, breathe. She did nothing wrong, you're just overreacting. Only because she is yet again correct, I may, have a little hope that Luke and I get Matched together. But it is only a wish, how do I even know that he will make it to the Games? Why do I have to care about that so much that I snap at my best friend for it? I need to just calm down and apologize. Right? That's what the bigger person would do, right? Then Markus stuck his head back into the room, "Miss Annabeth? Do you still need these files from the Council?"

"I don't know, what do you think Markus? Do I look like I still need the files?" I snapped.

"Am I supposed to answer that? I'm very confused." Markus' face show signs of puzzlement.

"For your safety, Markus, I suggest you don't answer that if you value your life." Came a new voice.

I sighed, why was I Miss Popular today? I was not in the mood for more guests, especially not after Rayla's…..umm outburst.

My older brother, Malcolm strode into the room, a grin playing across his slightly tanned face and his grey eyes sparkling with mischief. "So little sis, you have been yelling at this poor man for how long? A couple of hours? Multiple days?"

"Just a couple of hours and only because he can't do anything without being reminded six times." I scoffed.

"Now Miss, that isn't true." Markus countered politely.

"What isn't true Markus? The fact that you do everything as soon as you are told? The fact that you are perfectly capable of doing what I ask of you _**when**_ I ask for you to do so? Alright then, Markus, take the pile of files by the door and alphabetize them according to subject. The ones over by the window, you need to do the same, but don't mix them in with the others. The ones on the floor by your feet, yes those ones, Markus, place them over by the ones on the mat and mix those ones in with them and alphabetize them as well. I would stay and supervise, but I need to train." I concluded, feeling slightly malicious and, well I wanted to see what Markus would do with all information.

* * *

I growled, the hair on the back of my neck rising and standing up, they way it did when I was ready for a fight. Malcolm and I circled each other, each growl taunting the other. I grinned, I always had so much fun training with Malcolm. We would train for hours, neither one of us giving the other any ground. "Hey sis, are you going to attack, or shall I do the honors?" Came Mal's voice inside of my head. He sounded taunting and I hated people taunting me. Especially my brother. He always was too cocky for his own good.

I growled back at him, "I am not in the mood, Malcolm."

He continued to pace around me taking his sweet sweet time."I know, that's why I'm doing it." He teased.

I lunged for him, my claws just barely catching his snout. Small beads of blood appeared on his snout, and this time, it was his turn to lunge. His claws slashed through the air beside my face, giving me only a thousandth of a second to dodge the next attempt. I grinned, my brother always put too much momentum on his large blows, or at least attempts at blows. We danced back and forth, claws I used the extra weight he put forwards to knock him onto his back and pounced on top of him. He growled in defeat, his belly in the air. I transformed back and after a bit, so did he. Malcolm's cheek was bleeding and I found out that I was still on top of my brother, pinning him down. "Sorry Mal."

"It's fine, I think that is the first time you've beaten me so quickly. Normally it's the other way around." He said, smirking.

"I know, but it wasn't worth it." I told him.

"Why's that? You still beat me, it's better to count your wins. Remember that, little sis, even little victories are wins, the little ones count especially." He told me, a small smile playing on his face. "Now, I need to get cleaned up, Bia is waiting for me. And you, need to check on Markus. I'm sure he is passed out on the floor, twitching from all you had him do." His smile grew.

I smiled back, my brother was already Mated. Her name was Bianca, she was from Death pack and had a very cheery personality. I loved her, she was so good for Malcolm and gave him something to smile about everyday. "Okay Mal, I'll see you and Bia at dinner then."

* * *

I walked into my room, only to find that Markus was gone and the files were strewn about all over the room. I sighed, I knew it wouldn't get done. The door banged open and Markus came back in, carrying a cup of coffee and a scone. He was mumbling, "Of course she make me do all the work. Why not get Ella to do it? Anyone but me, that miserable little birch doesn't deserve her high position…"

"What's that Markus? You love your job and can't wait to continue working here?" I asked, making my presence known.

His eyes widened, "Miss Annabeth! I didn't know you were there, I was just about to continue the job you assigned me." He was clearly afraid of me and what I would do to him for his mumblings.

"Listen Markus, I would fire you on the spot, but I have too much respect for your mate, Zadie, to do that." I told him, my arms crossed as I stood in the doorway, still analyzing the mess. "I would also ask you to clean up this mess, but I think you have done enough today. Just leave my chambers and go make yourself useful somewhere else."

He left. Slamming the door, but he still left. Either way, I had a huge mess to clean up still, and that made my head hurt. Sighing, I knelt down and starting clearing up the red files, the ones that had sat by the door. Markus completely screwed up my system, I had to get the information organized so could finally what had happened to my mother.

See, my mother was the Alpha Female, the only wolf in complete charge of the pack before my father took control. Divorce is legal in Wisdom pack, whereas in the rest of the Order, it is illegal, except in extreme circumstances. So, naturally my father felt threatened by having a little girl in a pack that could have either male or female ruler. He divorced my mom when I was ten and lowered her status to a Gamma wolf, something that shouldn't have been allowed, but was passed anyways. With the divorce, my father gained custody of my brother and my mother had custody of me. I became a Gamma, and my brother became the heir to Wisdom pack. My father gained control of the pack and within six months, news came out of the Big House that my father was remating. Her name was Helen, she was the daughter of a lowly diplomate from Noctern pack. And because she wasn't of royal breeding, her children with my father were considered illegitimate, but, they are adorable. My mother passed on into the paws of Lupa herself, the next year and my father took custody of me too. He hates me, but, my brother will rule, no matter how many times he fights for his other sons to eventually take over. So yeah, that is why I choose to stay away from the step-mother and my father. They hate me, I strongly dislike them, either way, our meeting typically end in arguments.

* * *

I was continuing to clean up the mess Markus had made, when a knock sounded on my door. "Come in!" I yelled.

"Hey, we need to talk." It was Rayla, she was standing in the doorway with a guilty look on her face.

"Sure, and listen, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have doubted you, I know how you can get when someone doubts what you are trying to convey." I had a sheepish expression on my face as I lowered the files in my hand on top of their correct pile and sat down on my bed.

She came and righted the flipped over desk chair from her last visit. "I wanted to apologize too. I'm actually surprised that you beat me to it. You never do that." She smirked.

"Oh shut up Ray! I do apologize, I have done it before. I'm not completely heartless." I said, my pride clearly flaring up again. "Oops."

"Heartless? You? Never! But I accept the apology, and I'm sorry for basically calling you an egotistical know-it-all. You are a know-it-all, but you're still my best friend and you have been for years. Need any help?" Rayla said, still sitting in the spinny desk chair.

"Are you willing to do exactly what I say when it comes to this organization thing?"

"Sure. It can't be too hard, right?" Oh man, Rayla had no idea what she was getting into. I was a, well, I guess you could call me a bit of a neat-freak.

"Putting the illegitimate to work where she belongs? That is the best idea you've had all year, Miss Annabeth." Markus came into the room carrying a tray, two plates of roast chicken and potatoes with two chocolate milkshakes.

"Markus." My voice rang with warning, letting him know that he was already toeing the line.

"Honestly, Anna. I don't care, he's just jealous that **I** don't have to work like he does. Besides, I know that he…" Rayla said, making her voice heard from the floor where she sat.

" _ **M..miss Rayla**_." Markus stuttered, setting down the tray on my desk.

"That's much better, Markus. At last you've acknowledged the fact that I am the daughter of your Alpha's advisor and that I deserve some respect." Rayla glared at Markus. Her grey eyes were glinting with a clear malicious intent.

"That's enough. Both of you." I ordered, standing between them, glaring.

"But….she, he started it!" They both cried out indignantly.

"Markus, please take your tray and leave." I told him, clearly exasperated. He stumbled out the door, grumbling.

* * *

"Well, that wasn't unexpected." Rayla said, a smirk hidden in the tone of her voice.

"No, it really wasn't." I nodded, standing up and reaching for one of the milkshakes sitting on my desk. Ahhhh, chocolatey heaven.

Rayla smirked, "You love your chocolate, don't you?" She asked, motioning for me to pass her the second milkshake. I did so, and she sighed too, after taking the first sip.

"So are you ready to get your ass kicked at Silver?" It was now my time to smirk.

"Oh you're on Blondie! I can usually beat you in practice and daily training, so why would this be any different?" Challenged Rayla, her grin growing larger by the second.

"But this one is for Mates. The higher you're ranked typically means that you will get paired off with an Alpha Male. And every Female dreams of Mating with an Alpha male." Here was my logic, weak logic, but I can't kick ass every moment of every day.

"Even you?" Rayla now was demonstrating the mischievous side she had. "You dream of Mating with an Alpha Male? What if Mystery Male is an Alpha? Oooh I can see it!" She was squeaking now that I was a brilliant scarlet red. But I had to admit she was right, what if the Mystery Wolf I caught a glimpse of in Ocean pack really was an Alpha, or the Heir? I hated not knowing, but I had a feeling I would find out soon enough.

* * *

 **So, do I dare ask how that chapter was? Probably not. Okay, so as per usual, REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW! I am slowly falling behind on the want to continue writing this, so if you want me to keep going, let me know through PM or by review. I can answer all the questions about by story through PM, if something isn't clear, feel free to reach out an ask. Okay, I'm done.**

 **Love you lots!**

 **Your fellow Fictioner and Fangirl,**

 **Cinder Luna**


	5. (Chpt4) The Last Night Home

**Hey Fictioners! I have finally completed this chapter, to much relief on my end of things. This chapter had so many different edits to done to it, done by myself on the suggestion of my brillant, beautiful Beta, Dimitri Jinx, so I truly hope that you enjoy it. I am not super late with this one! Very excited about that! I have to, again, give a shout out to Dimitri, I'm sorry for hassling you about this chapter, but I am rather proud of it. Anyways, short A/N today, so hope you like the chapter.**

 **Disclaimer: Not a dude, not R. Riordan, not the owner of anything/anyone that exists in the "real world".**

* * *

 ** _"Bring me some hope_**

 ** _By wandering into my mind_**

 ** _Something to hold onto_**

 ** _Morning, noon, day, or night."_**

 ** _-Bastille, The Anchor_**

* * *

 **? POV**

* * *

"...I am pleased to announce that the training season and road to The Games has officially commenced! I have been notified that the guides for both Silver and Gold have reached Death Pack, the most isolated from The Order, and have started collecting the Eligibles from….". Zeus Fulmen announced over the official broadcast system.

He slammed his fist into the tabletop, "That smug bastard, acting as if I don't pose a threat! He'll soon find out what the Lost pack can do, and then, he and the other Alphas can watch as I bring the entire Order crumbling to its knees!"

Yelling in such a way brought his advisors and slaves running, he smirked. Their loyalty to him, was, well different than everything he had known, but that wouldn't stop him from eliminating one or two before conquering The Order of the Pack. "You! Where, in Lupa's name, did you get the jewel for your piercing? I didn't give you one and I have the only ones left in the pack."

"M-mm-master, I-I didn't st-steal. I-I wouldn't steal f-from you." This slave/advisor was like all the ones in his position before.

"Alright, I believe you," The malice in his eyes showed the psychotic side of him. "Get out of my sight! If I see you again today, you won't be so lucky." Groveling and bowing, the servant left his feet and headed for the door. Were he in wolf form, this man's tail would be between his legs. "Grab my knives." He hissed to his most trusted advisor, who stood at his side.

One quick throw, that landed the knife between his shoulder blades, piercing the heart from the back. That's all it took, this man would disturb him no longer.

"Let this be a warning to all, that thievery is not welcome in my court!" He roared.

"Yes Master." Murmured the courtiers.

"Good. And send out The Black Claw leaders, I have enough blood on my hands…...for today."

* * *

 **Percy's POV**

* * *

"So son, are you ready for your second run of the Training school?" My dad likes to think he doesn't worry too much, but everyone in the pack knows the Poseidon Oceanum is a softie at heart.

"Yes dad. And yes, I'm done packing. I'll be fine." I rolled my eyes and turned back to my bag. The schools only allow you to bring a small bag of personal stuff, otherwise Dove pack would bring their entire wardrobe. Trust me, that would be enough clothing to fill the entire school.

My dad crossed his arms, "No need for that tone, I'm just making sure that my boy doesn't get his tail kicked." Dad tried for a smile, and I had to snort at the hilarity of his sentence.

"Percy?" Called out a soft voice. Apparently I was Mr. Popular today.

I turned to face the familiar tones, "Hey mom, Little Star, Tyson." I addressed everyone who entered like I should. Well according to 'etiquette' any way.

"Percy!" Squealed Estelle, launching herself at me.

"Hey Star, whatcha up to?" I couldn't help but laugh at her antics. She was so positive and bubbly, I loved it. It certainly was infectious, especially for when I was in my darkest times, Estelle was always there to brighten it up. I looked over from my position and grinned, "Hey Buster, I'm already down. Might as well come over here."

Tyson is known as 'Buster' to both me and my dad, seeing as he 'busted' up my nose pretty badly in training, hence Buster.

At the mention of his nickname Tyson's eyes lit up with that playful sparkle of his. He came running, and I started to regret what I said almost immediately. I fell over under the weight of both Tyson and Estelle. They burst out laughing, and I had to join in.

I looked up to see my concerned mom, "Hey, hey, hey. Let your brother breathe, you're squashing him." I had forgot my mom was also in the room. She grabbed Estelle's hand and hoisted her off of me and Tyson rolled over and sat at my side. It allowed me to sit up momentarily before Estelle came rushing to sit beside me and have a death grip on my arm.

"Don't leave Percy. I don't want you to leave me here." Tyson begged, throwing in the puppy dog eyes to convince me.

"Take me with you. Please? I'll be good, I promise." Now Estelle was giving me the eyes as well and squeezing my shoulder for blonde hair glinted in the late afternoon sun.

I sighed and looked down at the both of them,"I would take you if I was allowed. But you aren't old enough to go, and what about Mom and Dad? They need you here."

"No they don't!" They exclaimed in unison.

"I think we do, Little Star. We'll be so lonely without you." My mom threw in her own version of the puppy dog eyes, well, they looked more like a baby seal's eyes. And they worked on Estelle, who ran to Mom and gave her a hug. Tyson was less affected by them and scowled, then Dad held out his arms and Tyson got up and hugged him.

I smiled, it was so perfect. My family, I mean. I honestly couldn't ask for a better group of people to be related to. But I dreaded going back to Gold, I was bound to get taunted about what had happened last time.

Shaking the thought off, I turned back to my family, who had their arms out for a hug. I gladly accepted it, falling in the comfort of those I love. I release myself from their embrace, "Alright, I want to talk to Chiron before I leave tomorrow. So everyone out."

* * *

I followed the sound of growls to the arena. Chiron sat, in human form, watching two of the royal guards duel. "Chiron!"

He turned, and I saw the little twinkle in his eye sparkle a bit more because, I, his favourite student was approaching. Clapping his hands, "Alright boys! Hit the showers, we're done for today." The wolves features blurred, paws turning to hands and feet, tail disappearing completely, hair disappearing from the rest of the body, save their heads. Their teeth shrunk and dulled and finally, the two guards unfolded from their position to stand upright. Clapping each other on the back, they jogged back to the barracks, their shirts fluttering in the breeze.

I turned back to face Chiron, who gave a small smile, then got back to business. He wasn't a tall man, and less so, now that he sat in a wheelchair. Being paralyzed from the waist and below didn't slow him down at all. His brown hair ruffled slightly in the breeze that blew mine all over the place. "So what did you require, Your Highness?"

"You always call me Perseus, why the formalities now?" I said, running my hand through my hair, confusedly.

"You are leaving for Gold pack tomorrow, it's about time someone reminded you of your duties as Heir." Chiron's explanation was simple enough, but I still wasn't getting it.

"I'm reminded of my duties every day. The servants, the Big House, the guards, all of it. I don't understand what you're getting at." Like I said, I was confused.

"I mean, Perseus, that you should remember what role you play in this pack. And to not shy away from responsibility because the going gets tough." Chiron told me gently. "I know what you've gone through and you can't let it take up your every waking moment. It simply isn't healthy."

Now I understood, "Chiron, I came here for help on what to do when I get to the school. I don't know who all is going and I have a feeling this year will be the toughest." My ADHD was acting up and I started tapping my hands against my thighs.

Chiron ribbed his fingers against his temple, "Well, I can't give you a play by play on what to do, but, I can tell you that making friends will help you. Don't become totally dependant on them though, you need to be able to perform your best during The Mating Games. Train hard, but don't show them all your tricks at once. Don't take top spot in the rankings at the school, stay in the middle of the pack. Putting yourself in top spot raises the threatening side of the hundreds of other males, and I'd prefer if you didn't get yourself torn apart." Said Chiron, ticking off the divulged information on his fingers. Quickly enough, that I couldn't process everything at once.

"So what you're saying is that I need to find a group of guys that I don't have to rely on for everything, but who also won't be leading the mob attacking me if I take top spot. I also, like I just said, shouldn't take top spot and give up all my tricks so quickly?" I asked, waiting for clarification.

Chiron looked at the horizon, watching the sun sink lower behind the embankment of gold painted clouds. He turned to face me, "That is exactly what I said." If the kind smile on his face didn't give it away, the tone of his voice was full of pride. Something unique to Chiron, he almost never got mad, just tired. But you could always detect pride, even if he never actually said the words 'I'm proud of you'.

"Thanks Chiron. I owe you so much." And I meant every word of it.

"You owe me nothing besides finding happiness, Perseus." The kind voice was back, and it made me grin. I knelt in front of his wheelchair and gave him a hug, something I had never dared to do before. But after the shock of the gesture passed, he hugged me back.

"I'd better be going, Perseus. I have to go eat, and so do you. Females never willingly choose the scrawny males." With an wink, he wheeled himself towards his cabin near the barracks.

* * *

I stood where I was, watching him roll slowly towards his home. As I watched the sun sink lower and lower into the clouds, I allowed myself to shift. Feet and hands to large paws, folding anatomy to end on all four paws, black fur sprouting. My tail lengthening itself out, my teeth grew sharper and larger in my mouth. My face was altering to fit accordingly to the rest of my body, allowing a snout to develop and ears to reposition to the top of my head. Lifting up my head, I allowed one quick howl. It felt amazing, to feel fur rustling in the evening wind, to say goodbye to home, for now at least.

Turning from the arena, I raced back to the Big House under the ever-darkening sky. My fur blew all over the place, like my hair does when I'm in human form. I slowed my pace, passing two guards leaving their posts for the changing of the guards. Nodding, I continued my meandering towards my family and my home. Shifting quickly and entering the tiny doorway that neared my room, I was able to get to it in a fraction of the time.

In my room, sat my mom. Head in her hands, it appeared she was crying. I carefully treaded forwards, "Mom?"

She lifted her head from her hand and hastily wiped away her tears, "Oh hello Percy."

"Mom, what's wrong?" I asked. I was concerned now, I hated seeing anyone cry. Especially my mom.

"It's nothing. It's really nothing, just me being ridiculous." She answered, swiping at her cheeks and standing up to face me.

"Mom, I'm going to be okay. I promise you that." I tried to console her.

"Percy…."

"Mom, look at me." I put my hands on her shoulders, "I will be okay, I can handle them. I've proven that already." I meant what I told her. I wouldn't lie to my mom, I'm not that heartless.

She sighed and looked away, "I know. I just don't want to see you get hurt again." She was scared for me. It was clearly heard in the tone of her voice.

"But I lived. Sure, I think about RED everyday, but it makes me stronger."

"I'm just being silly, Percy. Crying over nothing." She tried to dismiss it with a wave of her hand.

I wrapped my arms around my mom and hugged her ever so lightly, "I love you mom. And lying won't help anything. You told me that being scared is okay, so let it be okay."

"I love you too, Percy." And with that, my mom managed to squash me. Kidding, I don't go down that easy.

* * *

 **Annabeth's POV**

* * *

"OH. MY. LUPA. I can't believe we leave for Silver tomorrow! I'm so excited!" Squealed the last person I thought I'd ever hear squeal. Rayla Gables was squealing. What had the world come to?

"I know. I can't believe it either." I snickered, turning back to my bag.

"What?! What's so funny?!" Glared Rayla.

"Nothing, just you squealing. It was kind of, who am I kidding? It was really funny." I told her, a sheepish grin on my face. I turned back to her, "Have you finished packing?"

"Yeah, no thanks to you." She said, the same smile she always had returned to her face.

"Hey, can you blame her? It was kind of funny." Mal, Bia and Sorren had entered the room without me realizing. Sorren was smirking and Bianca was reprimanding him, a fake glare on her pale features and laughter filling her black eyes.

"Hey sis. How's packing going? Well, it seems." Great, now my dorky older brother was mocking me. "Bia and I brought you something."

"Oh. You didn't need to do that."

"Anna, take the present or whatever it is or I will." Rayla had her signature look on her face, you know the one where your friend means exactly what they said. Yeah, that one, but on Rayla, it was terrifying.

"Yes we did. This is a really big moment for you, we wanted to give you something that will help you at Training school. Open it." Bianca said, excitement in her tone.

"Okay, okay. Fine, I'll open it." I said, grabbing the box. It was small-ish, wrapped in Wisdom pack's signature grey paper and tied with white fabric ribbon. Ripping off the paper, I opened up the box to find a small owl shaped pendant.

I raised my eyebrow at the odd present,"Ummm….thanks?"

"I don't mean to be rude, but how is an owl necklace going to help her at Silver Training School? I mean, it's just a necklace." Sorren pointed out.

"It's a good luck charm, you moron." Mal pointed out. "Duh."

"It's so pretty, now I wish I stole it from you." Rayla gushed, snatching the box out of my hands.

"Ray, come on. Give it." I warned, but she knew I was only teasing.

"Make me." The mischief was back and gleaming in her eyes.

"Okay." I lunged at her, but Sorren grabbed me around the waist, his hands dipping lower than my hips to my crotch area for barely a second, before I could get to Rayla.

"Sorren, put my sister down." Malcolm's voice became stern and he was now glaring at Sorren, he had seen what Sorren had just done and he was mad.

I was promptly dropped on my butt, as he released me. "Ow! That hurt!" My voice hit an all time high and I felt very exposed, remembering where Sorren's hand had been moments before.

"I don't know why you have a problem with me, Malcolm. But I'm offended that you think I would hurt your family." Sorren snapped, his brown-ringed grey eyes flashing with anger and distrust at my brother and his mate.

"I only have a problem with what you did to my sister." Malcolm's eyes flashed angrily.

"And what, pray tell, did I do?" Sorren had this look in his eye, one that I didn't trust.

"You know very well what you did. Now, just, just leave." Malcolm stumbled over words in his enraged state.

"I don't bow to you. So give me one good reason why I should leave." Sorren was testing my brother, he would fight Mal until he gave in and forgave him. I wasn't going to let him do that again.

"You don't speak to my brother that way!" Now I was mad. "You are here by invitation, in the Big House, you need to leave. NOW!" I roared. I knew that my eyes were now flashing with anger and would resemble a thunderstorm.

Sorren stomped out of my room with a look so full of hatred that it almost made my knees buckle. " I hope you're proud of yourself, Ms. Chase." He sneered.

"Well, that was a...disaster." Rayla said, heading for the door. "I'll go check on him, make sure he doesn't, I don't know, kill someone or something. And I'll tell him that I saw what happened, so he can't lie to me or try to get out of it."

"I'll see you later then, Ray. You're staying here for the night?" I asked.

"Yeah, I am."

"Okay then. I'll see you later." I smiled weakly.

"Anna? Can you come here?"

"Hmmm? Sorry, Bia. I'm coming." I hurried over to Bianca, who was kneeling beside Malcolm, who had his head in his hands. "Mal? What's going on?"

"I'm fine, Annabeth. Honestly."

"Malcolm Chase, don't lie to me. Your face is bright red, your knuckles are white and you are shaking." I pointed out, copying Bia's position, kneeling beside him.

"I'M FINE!" He roared, standing up quickly and turning his anger on me. "Now I'm going to leave and I don't want to be followed."

He left, slamming the door in his rage. Bianca sank to her knees, "I hoped that you would help him see reason, but I was wrong."

"He's just angry, Bia. He lashes out when he's mad, I know that. He didn't mean what he said, he usually never does. It'll all be okay, Bia. I promise." I tried to comfort her. "Look at me. Please."

She did, her face was frightened, but she looked up at me. "Are you sure?"

"I'm positive. Now it's getting dark. I'll go check up on him." I said, reassuringly.

* * *

I wandered down to Mal's room. The door was open slightly and light was streaming out from the cracks in the door. "Mal? You in there?" I called out, my hand on the doorknob.

"Go away." Came the response.

"Mal….you know better than to ignore me." I told him, a grin playing on my face. "What's going on?"

"Fine, come in." He groaned. "What do you want?"

"To help you. And to reprimand you for scaring Bia." I said, pushing open the door. Inside sat Mal on his bed, in between Matthew and Robert, the adorable step-demons.

"Anna…...beth," Matthew saw my expression and quickly backtracked. "We can leave if you want."

"Nah, it's okay. You can stay here, I just need to talk to Mal." I told them, ruffling their blonde heads. "Look, I'm tired of playing good cop and breaking up fights, but you can't go overboard like that."

Malcolm visibly blanched. "Look, I didn't mean to scare her. I just couldn't stand what Sorren did to you and I lost it because of that. He is one of my best friends, but I don't totally trust him. Don't look at me like that," he added, because of the glare I was currently giving him, "I wanted to make sure you were safe and when he started trying to weasel his way out of a confrontation, I lost it, like I said earlier." The look on his face was guilty, and the smile on the twins' face was hilarious. They had this smirk on both of their faces that clearly indicated what would happen next.

"Malcolm's scared of Annie! Malcolm's scared of Annie!" They teased, dancing around the room.

Malcolm's face turned beet red, and he stuttered "You know better than to tease me." The intent to be threatening failed, because of Mal's embarrassment.

"Oh c'mon Malcolm, they're just little kids. I remember us doing the same thing to Amber, our old governess." I said, giving him a pointed look. And yes, we had a governess. I know it's lame, but still.

"We're not little kids! We're Alphas! Rooaaarr!" Matthew exclaimed. "I'm not scared of you!" He threw himself at me, clearly trying to prove himself. Pinned to the floor, the only thing I could do was, well, tickle him. And that worked. Matthew burst out laughing, weakly swatting at my hand, he was laughing so hard. Bobby tried to help, grabbing my hand and freeing his twin, but he had put himself in my path, so I started to tickle him. His reaction was the same, laughter bouncing off the pale grey walls of Malcolm's room.

Malcolm caught Matthew as he launched himself at me to stop the 'Tickle Monster'. "Gotcha, you little bugger!" He too started to tickle the other twin.

But apparently, fun is illegal in the court of my step-monster, sorry, mother. "What is going on in here?! I heard screaming." She was playing the maternal card, something I had seen many times before, but was smart enough to know it was all a ruse. " **Annabeth**. I should have known you had something do with it. Why would you hurt one of my babies? Is it because you know that one of them will rule and you will never get the chance to experience the power of a pack to rule?" She was baiting me, it was clear as day. But as I had never bitten back a retort, Helen thought she could push me around whenever she so wanted. Speaking of which, she stood in the doorway of Malcolm's bedroom, her pale hands on her hips.

"No, it isn't because of that, and you and I both know that neither will rule this pack. I am not to blame for a little fun." I snapped back, watching shock painted itself across her face.

"I'm not saying having fun is a problem, I'm just saying that you don't have a kind bone in your body. You wouldn't even know how to care for someone or something else….." Her voice faded away at my expression.

"You're just saying?!" My temper was gone. I'm like Mal that way. "Okay, listen to me because I am only going to say this once. You are a bloody hypocrite, you know that?! You are telling me that I am not kind?! I received a gods-awful person for a stepmother, who for the first few years that I knew her, did nothing but terrorize me and bully me into submission. I was nothing but considerate to you, nothing but polite and courteous. Yet you still used me as a dummy for your snide comments and, well, your verbal abuse every single day for the first three or so years I knew you. What have I ever done to you, **Your Majesty**?" I knew that my eyes were blazing with grey fire, the way they always did when I got mad. The twins had hid behind me during the exchange, their faces pressed into Malcolm's shoulders. Mal was watching me, he remained impassive, no emotion showing on his features, but his eyes twinkled with mischief, hidden pride at what I retorted back at her.

Then my face flew to one side, an awful cracking noise followed, then pain. I looked up, Helen's face was full of fury and her coal black eyes were displaying a clear malicious intent. "What have you ever done to me? Well, first of all, you made my life miserable even before I was married to your father. Always comparing me to your poor pitiful mother that died. Well I don't give a damn about your mother. Never have, never will. And you look just like her enough to spite me!" Her sneer spoiled whatever looks she had. Face full of rage, she grabbed my chin and pulled my face close to hers, her red painted nails digging into my skin. "And do you know what? I will do whatever it takes to make one of my **sons'** Alpha, even going so far as to, well, you know what? I'll decide what to do with your pathetic family and friends, not that you have any, later, when the time comes." A nasty and smug smile danced across her face

But I wasn't going to let her threaten me or my only real family left like that. I stormed forwards, covering half the room in four thundering strides in her direction. I lunged at her, but something inside me stopped me from attacking her right then and there. I looked her square in her charcoal eyes, easy to do when only an inch is in between you and whatever you are staring down. "Let me make one thing clear, **Helen**." I spat out her name like it was the most vile thing I had ever tasted. "No one gets to threaten my family. You don't get to push me around anymore, I've learned to bite back, harder and faster than anything you could do. You may be my father's latest wench, oops wife, but I am the daughter of the fairest ruler this pack has ever seen. Bullying me results with scars, it always has. Now go!" I released her gaze, and she scrambled to the door, a pale hand pressed against her throat where my hand should have been minutes earlier. With a glare, she turned and left the room.

* * *

I left Malcolm's room the instant the demon entered her chambers. Running down the stone steps, I pushed past servants and advisors, leaving them scrambling to get out of my way.

Exiting the Big House, I shifted, still running. I raced out of the gardens, towards the village where I grew up, My rage hadn't disappeared, so I would, for the safety of those I career about. Racing past trees, stones and the nocturnal animals that had just come out to hunt, was calming. I slowed a little, veering off towards a small stone house. This was the place I knew as home, well I used to, anyways. Climbing up on top of the roof by use of the wooden ladder that hadn't moved since I had last been there, I shifted back. Feet and hands emerging from paws, fur receding, tail disappearing completely, I sat down. I had reached this state of deadly calm, the smallest thing could set me off again, but breathing in the night air calmed me. My blood stopped boiling and I could now see clearly. The stars twinkled above me, giving me the smallest bit of hope that I could leave this place and return and have it stay the same. "Care to share your thoughts?" Came a voice from behind me.

Bristling, I turned around and there stood Mal. "Just leave me alone. I'm not in the mood." I sighed, my temper was gone.

Climbing up to sit next to me, he looked at me, worry and stubbornness showing on his face that was bathed in the moonlight. "You know better than to ignore me." A pause. "You know, what you did was really…..well stupid, but incredible just the same."

I turned to face him "Look, I really don't want to talk about this right now."

"But I want to." He said, grabbing my shoulder. "You did something I've never seen anyone do to Helen, since she first arrived. Standing up to her severely dented her ego, she's in her room crying because "you attacked her". I just wish I had the guts to do the same." His face had this wistful look on it and his hand was tracing patterns on the twig roof only visible to him.

"But you do. You were just occupied with the twins. You could have stepped in at any time." I startled myself by saying this, and by the looks of it, Malcolm wasn't expecting it either.

"What do you mean?" He questioned.

"You have the guts to do that, whatever that was. You just choose not to, and being able to control your temper is something I admire about you." I whispered, my face heating up. I never said anything like that to my brother, nothing touchy-feely.

"Really? And here I thought you hated me." He said teasingly, nudging me in the ribs.

"Mal….stop. Just stop." I protested, no energy left. My adrenaline was gone, flushed out of my body by the peacefulness of the night.

"Look sis, you have nothing to worry about at Silver. Hell, you could take down wolves at Gold if you so wanted. But something you should know, something I learned the hard way. Don't take one of the top spots at the training school, unless you want to have a target on your back." He said, his eyes pleading with me to do what he advised.

"So you want me to act like I can't fight?" I having a total Ocean pack moment, not understanding what was being asked and completely oblivious to the meaning of what he was trying to convey.

"No, look, what I mean, is don't give everything up so quickly, your tricks I mean. You are fast, agile and incredibly smart, so beat them with the basics. Chances are, they use advanced maneuvers to the basics and have probably forgotten most of them, use that to your advantage. Use these tips to stay under the radar, let someone else take that top spot and then, well, dominate in the last week to secure your spot in the Games." He finished, his eyes looking more alert than they had in the last few minutes.

"Okay, so stay under the radar and take a medium position, not great, not terrible, but mediocre. Basic maneuvers should be enough. Got it." I smiled at him, it meant a lot to me that my brother went after me to tell me this.

"Now, let's get back to the Big House. Race you there?"

* * *

I crept back into the Big House, making sure not to let my footsteps be heard by the guards. But as soon as my foot touched the stairs, the light flicked on. There, in the Great Hall, sat my father. "You're a bit late." He remarked, lacing his fingers together.

"Yes Father. I'm sorry, I was training and forgot the time." I lied, but not letting it show.

"No, you weren't. You attacked your Mother." My father said, glaring at me.

"First of all, she isn't my mother. Second, I was training in the designated Training centre. I haven't seen Helen all day." I kept my face impassive, not a flicker of recognition crossed my face.

"Stop lying."

"I wouldn't lie to you, Father." Now I was clearly laughing inside, only one good thing had come from the step-demon marrying my father, my acting skills had improved tenfold.

"Annabeth, why are you still up? Father, let her go to bed, she has to travel tomorrow." Malcolm's voice rang out as he descended the stone steps.

"This doesn't concern you, Malcolm. Go back to bed." My father said, with a dismissal wave of his hand.

"It, in fact does Father. I have been waiting to tell my sister something for awhile now and I believe that I should before she goes to bed." Malcolm insisted, dragging me up the stairs.

I followed him, and upon reaching my door, I grabbed him and pulled him into a hug. "Thank you." I whispered.

Then I opened my bedroom door, stepped over the sleeping form of Rayla. Rayla, I had forgotten all about her in my rage. I flopped onto my bed and pulled the covers over my head. It took a few minutes, but soon, I too, was fast asleep, dreaming of the Games and the journey ahead.

* * *

 **So that is that. Next chapter, we shall enter Silver and Gold. Hopefully, you enjoyed this. If not, I'm sorry. Let me know what I did wrong, (if anyone says this story, I am not deleting this. So HA!) and I will attempt to fix it. So review, follow and favourite! Thanks!**

 **Love you lots!**

 **Your fellow Fictioner and Fangirl,**

 **Cinder Luna**


	6. Results for the Contest

**Hey Fictioners! So, after much deliberation, I have finally chosen the 6-9 characters that will appear in the story. So again, thank you all so much for your submissions! And congratulations to:**

 **\- DDaughterofAthena with Jenna Lions**

 **\- IAmHelenOfTroy with Helen Brewer**

 **\- Guest who submitted Ally Bateman**

 **\- Shadow Leonis with Umbra Leonis**

 **\- Vibi.K with Kane Smith**

 **\- timrocks99 with Weiss Nieve**

 **\- Magic Demigod Runner with Hunter and Andromeda Hayes**

 **Your creations will be joining characters like Rayla and Sorren Gables, Annabeth Chase, Percy Jackson and custom characters like Lena Blackwood, Caylin Morrigan, Claire Hopea, Polly Stone and Clementine Pametan, who will be introduced later on in the story. I am so excited to introduce your characters to the Fictioners following The Order.**

 **Thank you again to everyone for submitting characters, it means a lot that you would indulge me and share your creativity with me and . I am working on the next chapter, it will possibly introduce some of these amazing characters.**

 **Thanks again.**

 **Love you lots,**

 **Your fellow Fictioner and Fangirl,**

 **Cinder Luna**


	7. (Chpt5) Why you?

**AAAAHHHH! I am so sorry I left you like that. But to be fair this is my longest chapter ever, so I do think that it was worth the wait. I hope. I have started to introduce people, particularly the ones that won the contest. If yours doesn't make an appearance, they will. I just need the time and the place to throw them in. Other characters will be mentioned more than once, some may be killed off. Those are the risks of submitting a character to me, they might die. I have been really busy this summer, traveling to visit family, watching movies and trying to edit this beast of a chapter. I have another person helping me grammar and spell check, so I am very grateful to them. I have missed writing and I hope that you haven't given up on me for taking so long. Life is life, it's bloody and messy and trips you up at the worst possible times. This was one of them. Again, I am deeply sorry for how long I took. Your support means everything to me, so thank you. I will stop rambling now. Enjoy the chapter.**

 **Disclaimer: I own none of the familiar stuff and some of the unfamiliar. Some character are my design or the designs of others.**

* * *

"...and suddenly, you just know it's time

to start something new and

trust the magic of beginnings."

-Anon

* * *

 **Annabeth's POV**

I woke with a start to see Rayla standing over me. Malcolm and Bia were also standing in the entryway to my room, smirks adorning their faces. "Wha..what time is it?" I yawned.

"Time to get up, the Eligibles from the border packs and the Guides are almost here. And before you ask, yes the male Eligibles are traveling with us," Rayla said, before grabbing my arm and pulling me out of my bed. "You need to get changed, or you will be traveling in your pajamas."

I looked down. Sure enough, I was in my warm blue and grey flannel pajamas. How they got to be what I was wearing, was a mystery to me.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm coming, let me change and I'll be down quickly," I told Rayla, another yawn escaping my mouth.

"Hurry up, you have maybe twenty minutes before the Guides show up," Malcolm responded before turning to leave the doorway. Bia and Rayla followed him, chatting about Silver's impressive training school.

Sighing, I reached into my closet for a pair of black yoga pants. They were ideal for a trip like this because they were tight enough to not get caught on the foliage and warm enough that I didn't need sweatpants over top, and an orange athletic T-shirt. Sliding those on, I rushed into my bathroom and grabbed my brush. Running it through the rat's nest that was currently my blonde curls was painful. So I gave up and pulled them back into a high ponytail. A splash of cold water on my face and a grey hoodie completed my "outfit". I tried not to spend too much time getting dressed, but sometimes time ran away from me.

"Annabeth, get down here!" Rayla yelled up the stairs.

"Coming! I just need to grab my bag," I responded, reaching under my bed to pull out a black workout bag that I had packed the night before. Passing my dresser, I grabbed the owl necklace and my trusty black watch. Putting them on quickly, I left my room.

Racing down the stairs, I bumped into Matthew. His face lit up when he saw me, "Anna!"

"Hey buddy, are you coming downstairs?" I asked, checking the time. 7:50, I had ten minutes to eat and be waiting in the center square to leave with the Guides.

"Yeah, I was looking for you. You weren't downstairs," he said, a small smile crossing his face.

"Come on, let's go downstairs." I smiled at him, grabbing his hand, and together we ran down the stairs.

"I'm here!" I announced as I reached the Great Hall where Rayla, Sorren, Malcolm, Bianca, Father, Helen, and Bobby stood.

"Finally. I thought you would never come down!" Bobby said, clearly exasperated as he rolled his dark brown eyes.

"Now, now. Robert, that is not how you welcome someone into a room," chided Helen, fixing me with a look of disgust.

I rolled my eyes and shouldered my bag. "Good morning to you too, Helen," I responded, faking cheerfulness and enthusiasm.

"Is that really what you're wearing?" She questioned, wrinkling her nose at my choice of clothing.

"Yes, and is there a problem with it?" I shot back, not really wanting to blow up at her again. The twins didn't need to see that. Especially not now. Now that I was leaving the pack. "You know what? Forget it." I shook my head and reached over Rayla's shoulder to where a bowl of apples sat. I grabbed one, slipping it into my hoodie pocket.

"So, shall we head out?" Malcolm asked, looking at Rayla and me. We nodded, sharing a small smile.

~xXx~

We left at a run, heading towards the square. Rayla and I raced ahead of everyone, our bags slapping our sides as we ran towards our future. "Race ya!" I yelled out to her, then took off, faster than I had run in awhile.

"You are so on!" challenged Ray. As she raced after me, her auburn hair came flying free from the band that had tied it back.

We raced along the streets of Wisdom pack, not hesitating to shove others out of the way. I know, I know. It makes me sound like a spoiled brat, but they were in my way. Okay never mind, forget that I said that. We rushed towards the platform in the center of the square, where the other Eligibles from Wisdom stood.

"Took you long enough," sneered one of the Gammas. Darrah, I think her name is. Her father was known around Wisdom pack for being problematic. More than once he had barged into the Great Hall, interrupting meetings and harassing guards.

"So? What does that have to do with anything?" I shot back, a snarl ready in the back of my throat as I stared her down.

"Look, whatever. It doesn't matter. Just get on the platform girls," Malcolm responded, his voice breaking the tension that had arose. With a small shove towards the wooden stage, we climbed the stairs to stand with the rest of our pack's Eligibles.

A cheer sounded from the crowd as we looked out over the pack in its whole. Grey eyes, ringed and flecked with all the colours of the rainbow stared back at us, their pride rolling towards the stage in waves. It was spectacular, standing on that platform and seeing the pack cheering for me. For us. No wonder Malcolm told us that we would never forget the day we set off for the Training schools, it was magical!

I felt Rayla nudge me in the ribs, "Isn't this amazing?!" she said, her eyes wide and a great grin taking over her face. She looked like a cat from a book I had read, the Cheshire Cat from Alice in Wonderland, one of my mother's favorite books. It was ancient, but still amazing, nonetheless.

"It really is." I too, felt a grin spreading across my face. "Hey, look! There come the Guides!"

Those on the platform had also seen the Guides. We all knelt, like we had seen our siblings, neighbors and friends do time and time again. Now, it was our turn. The Guides rushed into the streets with the other Eligibles from nine other packs racing along behind them. They poured through alleys and narrow passageways until they reached the platform. Well, the barricade of pack members standing around the stage itself.

A large male Guide stood separate from the group, radiating power and respect. He looked scary, in his mid thirties with jet black hair, a bright blue eye that made contact with my father's and a milky white one. There was a long scar from the middle of his right cheek to his right eyebrow, clearly why one of his eyes was the eerie white. "Stand." That one word echoed around the square, bouncing off the walls of buildings. "You are the chosen, the Eligibles, the future for your pack and you will do your pack proud. My name is Kane Smith, I am a Trainer as well as a Guide. That said, gentlemen, I will be one of your trainers. And ladies, you will have the pleasure to be trained by the phenomenal Trainers and Warriors of Silver." He made eye contact with members of the pack as well as us while he spoke.

"Rise now and follow the footsteps of your predecessors. Join them in your history and with the ceremony done, follow us. Ladies and gentlemen, your Eligibles, your future!" With a wave of his hand, the entire pack exploded into cheers and shouts. The sound was deafening. Kane motioned for us to follow him and in that instant, chaos broke out.

"Rayla!" I shouted, pushing my way through the crowd. I saw her, trying to find me as well, but she was about ten feet in front of me. Shoving aside several people, giving multiple bruises and causing more than one scream of pain, I finally reached her.

By that time, Kane's voice boomed out, "SHIFT!" Not one to disobey a big male who was probably able to tear an Alpha to shreds. I did as told. My bag shifted as well, turning into a small black collar-type item that hung from my neck, but wasn't overly heavy so that I didn't faceplant while running.

A honey coloured Dove pack wolf shoved past me. "Excuse you, freak." I shook my head, apparently being smart was an insult to Dove pack members.

After being shoved around like a rag doll for what seemed like hours, I gave up being polite and snarled at the next wolf that tried their luck at pushing past me. "Woah, like, chill out. There is, like, no need to be rude."

I rolled my eyes, before turning slightly to see that Rayla was smirking at me. "You honestly had me fooled, and I know how bad they can be. I live as one." A new voice came into my head from a cinnamon coloured wolf at my side. "I'm Piper, resident smart-ish Dove pack member and honestly fed-up with them." She gave us a toothy grin, I knew I liked her right away.

"I'm Annabeth and this little ass is Rayla. Nice to meet you," I said, earning a grin from Piper and a cry of indignation from Rayla who I knew was only joking. "What is Dove pack like?"

"A place where fashionistas go to mock the quote unquote fashionably challenged. I am apparently the only one who really doesn't give a damn about my appearance," she spat, like the words left a bad taste in her mouth. The place honestly sounded like Hell. "And what about Wisdom pack, what's that like?"

Absolute hell, I thought to myself. But instead I responded, "It is interesting to say the least. But it is still home, regardless of the people there."

"That bad? Really? I would have thought that being the daughter of an Alpha would have its perks. I guess not," she said, her kaleidoscope-like eyes showing signs of confusion.

I stumbled, you have to remember that we were still running and Piper caught me by surprise with her question and of course, I am a natural klutz.

"Oh believe me, she is _not_ the daughter of an Alpha male. Well at least her power and rights aren't acknowledged by her _father_ ," Rayla interrupted, shooting me a look. One that told me not to contradict her on this matter. "What I mean, is that her father doesn't give her the treatment she deserves as the eldest and only female child, and according to the laws, she is the Heir to Wisdom pack. Not her brother or anyone else."

Piper was silent, pondering over the points brought up by my friend. Leaping over a fallen branch, she responded, "So, if I am correct, your father is a self-centred, power-hungry, coward of an Alpha male?"

I gazed around me at the surroundings, by now we had been running for awhile and were consistently losing the Dove pack Eligibles to exhaustion. I smirked, they were so eager to race ahead and be the fastest, but of course, they had no stamina. Then I realized Piper had spoken to me. "Sorry, what did you say?"

With another ridiculous grin, Piper repeated herself, "I asked if your father was a lying, cowardly, egotistical leader who only was Alpha for the power over his enemies. Was I correct in assuming that?"

Now I too, had a grin on my face. Forgetting that disrespecting your Alpha was punishable by imprisonment, I agreed. "That certainly is one way to describe him, and I share your opinion completely."

Rayla was about to say something when she was cut off by Kane, who yelled to the entire group, "Alright future leaders and whatever else you may become, shift back and start setting up camp! We are behind schedule, but tomorrow our pace will be doubled to reach Lightning pack by midday!"

I stretched, arching my back and proceeding to shift into my human form. A groan beside me told me that both Piper and Rayla had shifted as well and were now massaging their aching limbs. I noticed that Piper's hair was cut choppily and that it was more of a chocolate brown colour than cinnamon brown. Her eyes were still ever-changing, like her wolf had had and that she stood around 5'8, about two inches shorter than I was. She cocked her head to the side. "So, what do we do now?"

I scratched my thigh, my nails catching on the fabric of my black yoga pants. "I don't know. Ray?"

"If you bothered to pay attention, we have to go a grab tent packs from the big black bag over there and set up our tents. Then we stand by them and wait for inspection of bags. Clear?" she said, her tone mocking.

~xXx~

Setting up the tents took awhile, to say the least. The Dove pack Eligibles couldn't figure out which tent posts went where and how to hammer the tent stakes into the forest floor, which was completely hilarious. The small tent that Rayla and I were sharing was up and ready for the night, but Piper was still trying to reason with one of her pack mates. Her pack had abandoned her without a tent and without a place to stay the night.

"I told you, freak. There is no way in hell I would, like, ever room with you tonight or any night. I need my own tent, so go stay with other dumpster girls like you," snapped an Eligible with long jet-black hair, long tan limbs and a sneer on her bronzed face.

Piper growled, a low and menacing sound that came from her throat as she lay on the forest floor. Her position showed what I thought was weakness, but I knew better than to open my mouth. "I told you, I have nowhere else to stay. Drew, stop being so selfish and let me in the damn tent!"

"Ugh! Go be pitiful somewhere else," the girl- Drew- scoffed and sauntered back towards her tent.

"H-hey, if you want you could stay with me, offered a girl, whose eyes suggested that she was a Death pack wolf.

"I mean, I don't know who you are. But sure, thanks?" Piper said, her eyes flitting towards me for a second before going back towards the mystery girl.

"Oh sorry, I forgot. I'm Deanna, Deanna Sketcher," she said with a small smile on her pale face.

"Cool name, I'm Piper. And thank you, that is really very kind of you. I will take you up on the offer to share your tent," Piper told her, a smile cutting across her face as she followed Deanna towards her tent on the opposite side of the clearing.

I rolled my eyes and clearly Rayla saw it, so she turned to face me and dug her elbow into my ribs. I gave a loud yelp, which caught the attention of every wolf in the clearing. "Ladies, save the fighting for the school. You'll need it then," reprimanded Kane.

"Yes sir!" Rayla and I called back to him, before turning and heading back into the tent that we had just set up. Giggling, we unpacked the sleeping bags and placed the clear bags in our packs. The sleeping bags and tent pack would fit into one of our packs and shrink once we started running again in the morning. It was amazing, the technology that we had now. The humans would have kill to get their grubby hands on it, if they were somehow still alive as of today.

"Hey Annabeth?" called someone from outside the tent, I couldn't place the voice.

"Yeah, what's up?" I asked warily, emerging from the interior of the tent to see that Piper was standing in front of me. Deanna was standing behind her, head down staring at her shabby running shoes.

"I had a question and Piper couldn't answer it, so I was hoping you could help me," came the shy response. Deanna's head was still lowered, avoiding eye contact with me, but she continued. "How does this thing happen? Like the Mating part? And what happens if you don't get a mate, do you become Mateless?"

"Okay, first of all. Look at me, I'm not going to smack you for looking at me. Gamma wolf, right?" The small nod confirmed it. "First of all, there are five overall tests. The strength test, the instinct test, the courage test, shifting ability, and the speed test, the last one is also known as 'The Chase'. According to the head of the Order, the last test is the most important, because then the males have the scent of their mates, so they're set loose to find them, while the females run deep into the forest surrounding the arena."

Taking a deep breath, I continued. "Once the males have the scent of their mate, they become restless, the wolf inside them tracks the mate and most importantly, these males will do whatever it takes to find and defend the female. From what I have been told, the males would rather claw themselves to bits before laying a hand or a paw on them. In other words, they'd rather die than harm their mate."

Deanna's mouth was open in shock. I guess I spoke too fast and caused an information overload. "How do you know all of that? None of that was said at the information session, so how do you know about all of this? Are you like some kind of spy?" came her stunned answer. She was still watching me, dark brown eyes wide and full of questions.

I laughed, Death pack wolves generally kept to themselves. But Deanna was unique, she had a curious spirit, one that sought the answers to the questions she buried deep inside her. I could sense this, it was something I hadn't expected. Neither the fact that her eyes were ringed with a shimmery silver, most Death pack wolves tend to have darker rings around the iris.

"A? You okay?" Rayla was waving her hands in front of my face, trying to get my attention. "You zoned out again."

"Huh? Yeah, I'm fine. And to answer Deanna, I read. A lot. And having a Mated older brother helps to give insight from both sides." was my response. Wiping my hands on my pants, I added, "Look, Kane is apparently calling for us. Let's go, I don't want to get beat around by a giant male."

And with that we ran towards the middle of the large clearing, where Kane stood on a stump of a tree that had been chopped down. "Well, it's clearly time to eat. I can hear all of your stomachs rumbling from up here. The Guides are passing out timer collars, put them on and then you and a group of three other wolves can go hunt. You all have two and a half hours to find food and eat and if you aren't back by the time the two and a half hours are up, you will be required to stay with me during the next hunting session. Understood?

"Oh, and one more thing. Any messing around will result in a punishment created by yours truly. That includes fighting, stealing, goofing around and, well, you can use your imaginations on what else we don't need happening while we are here. Have I made myself clear?" his voice bounced around the clearing.

Feet were shuffling, whispers were rising up amongst the group and everyone was antsy. Present company included. "Group of four?" inquired Piper, her eyes sparkling with amusement.

"I would love to…" started Deanna, but her sentence was cut off by a large male approaching our group. "Umbra? What are you doing here? I thought you already had a mate."

"I did." he answered curtly. His eyes were another colour I hadn't expected from a Death pack male, they were a deep purple and held gold flecks around the iris. He was taller than all of us, but that was to be expected. "I was told to join a group, here I am."

"Okay, let's go." said Rayla, as she shifted and pranced ahead of us. I had set up a link, so we could talk to each other, it was the way we communicated in wolf form. "Guys, come on! I'm hungry!"

We followed her into the woods, she raced ahead, relishing in her freedom as a wolf. And to be honest, I was doing the same. The group of us raced through the trees on the hunt for a meal, and what I thought was strange was that Umbra hadn't raced ahead. It was unlike a male, in my experience, to hold back while hunting. My brother and all the males I knew wanted to be the one to bring down a kill, but he raced beside us, letting Rayla be the one to run ahead.

"There!" came Piper's voice in the heads of the group. We skidded to a halt, trying to locate whatever had piqued Piper's interest. A deer stood a little ways into the trees from where we stood. "Oh wait, never mind. It's a mother."

Crap. I knew that the group had been excited, but we wouldn't take down mothers. Especially if they had babies with them, it was too risky. "What about him?" I moved my head towards a buck, one that stood and watched us warily from his spot in the trees.

"Any little ones with him?" came Umbra's deep voice. He was ready to make the kill, ready to pounce and destroy. "No? Good, let's go."

The group took up the chase, the buck bounded ahead, away from the four of us. Where had Rayla run off to? Whatever, we'd do all the hard work. Umbra had leaped ahead, racing alongside the deer, keeping pace and nudging it towards a cluster of rocks. It leapt over them without trouble and kept running.

I snarled, this was our food, the meal we all needed. Pushing forwards, I outran Umbra and lunged towards the animal. Missing, I let out another snarl, we needed to work together instead of fighting each other for the glory of the kill. Deanna had come up beside me, and beside her, Piper. We ran in formation, keeping pace with the buck and each going for a leg. That time, we succeeded in bringing the animal down. I shifted back, the animal was wounded. I wasn't cruel, I wouldn't let it suffer, drawing the blade I kept with me at all times, I drew it across the animal's throat. The group had also shifted back, bowing their heads in respect.

When we were certain it was dead, we started the butchering process. Leaving anything to waste wasn't smart, so we carefully cut the meat off the bones. It was a long process, and we were starving, but this had to be done first. "Woah, you brought that down?!" rang out an astonished voice from behind us.

"Yeah, so what? We aren't sharing, so go bug someone else." Umbra stood up, his hands covered in blood from the butchering. He was also still holding his knife, so he looked like the type of person you really didn't want to mess with.

Two boys came out of the trees and stood watching us. I looked up and glared, I knew these jokers. They were sons of Hermes Stoll, Connor and Travis. Brothers to Luke, someone I may or may not be wishing I would be Matched with. "What do you want, Stolls?" I ground out.

"Annabethie! It is so good to see you! We missed you!" They came forwards and hugged me. I shoved them aside, turning away and continuing my work. "Look, we only need a bit of meat. And you have so much, so you would love to share with us. Wouldn't you?" they begged, flashing me twin smiles.

"No." I turned back to the deer, but it wasn't there. I growled and chased after the two punks who had grabbed the carcass and taken off running. Tackling one of them caused the weight of the animal to be added to the other wolf. He stumbled, falling to the ground and leaving the carcass for Umbra to grab. Rayla burst out of the trees and took down Travis, snarling.

I turned to slap the wolf I had pinned down, but seeing Luke's face and blue eyes startled me enough that he was able to wiggle out of my grasp and take off running with Connor and an unknown wolf with one eye. Growling, I grabbed the other part of the buck that Umbra was dragging along the forest floor. I couldn't believe the audacity that those four had, trying to steal from a group that clearly wasn't about to invite them to share a meal.

"Nice catch Ray." I called to her. She still had Travis pinned down and wasn't about to let him escape. She shifted back, her elbow pressed against his throat and her knee was down in the most painful place a guy could ever be kicked. I had taught her that after I found out that it worked on Malcolm, so I figured that Rayla should be able to take down her brother during training as well.

"Thanks, but shouldn't we be headed back about now? It's getting kind of dark out here and if you ask me, I'd rather not be hunting alongside Kane tomorrow." she responded, looking up at the sky and seeing the firestorm that was the sunset. It was beautiful, reds, oranges and yellows all mixed together to make the sky appear to be filled with flames.

~xXx~

We had marched Travis back to the camp, with Umbra gripping his shoulder tightly, so that it was next to impossible for him to escape. The timers on our collars went off as soon as we had stepped into the clearing, and to our surprise, we were one of the first groups back. That was bizarre. Then I noticed the shadows in tents, talking and laughing together. Technically, we were late. But Kane let us pass because of the huge deer carcass we were still dragging behind us. "I see you brought me a present," he said with a smirk on his face. "Travis, I do sincerely hope that you will give me the pleasure of accompanying me to hunt tomorrow."

"Now, why would I want to do that?" came the reply from Travis as he picked himself up from the ground. Umbra had dropped him at Kane's feet before retreating to his tent so he could clean blood from his clothes. Travis was playing with fire, this wouldn't end well. But it would be quite amusing to watch.

"Why indeed. Well Mr. Stoll, for one, you deliberately disobeyed one of my rules. Hence the consequences that are being dealt." the sneer on Kane's face did not give any indication that he would forgive the comment. "You broke the terms of agreement by attempting to steal from another group. Why in Lupa's name did you ever think that that tactic would work?"

"I was doing what I had to survive. Surely when we are Mated and out hunting, we can steal the kill of another wolf? I didn't know that there was a law about that anywhere in the Order." Travis's face had formed itself into a mischievous smirk. One that clearly bugged Kane.

"You will be accompanying me on my hunt tomorrow after we have picked up the Lightning pack Eligibles, understand? Any more disobedience from you, the punishment will intensify. Do I make myself clear?" At Travis's nod, he continued. " Now get out of my sight, maybe one of your packmates will share part of their meal with you." Kane sat back down and growled at those who had been watching the entire spectacle.

Rayla and I headed back to our tent to eat. I began to open a smoking box that I had set up outside the tent before we left, it was an invention of mine and I was immensely proud of it. The small glass box had a fire lit underneath of it, sending smoke from the fire into the box. Placing the meat inside where the smoking of it would be quick, I closed the lid and set a my watch for an hour and a half. At that time, the meat would be cooked and easy to store, so we could eat on the go tomorrow or whenever. "Hey A?" called Rayla from inside the tent.

"Yeah, what's up? Do you need something?" I answered, standing up. My clothes smelt of blood, pine needles and smoke, I desperately needed to change.

"Oh never mind, I found it!" she yelled back. I sighed, she was constantly losing stuff. Even if she was in need of something, I would've had to get up, go into the tent, throw the entire contents of the tent around before she would lift up a shirt and find whatever it was that she was looking for.

Shaking my head, I sat back down and watched the others clean up from dinner, eat or sit and talk in the night air. "Dumpster girl! You stole my hand cream! Don't even bother to deny it, you're just jealous that my hands are softer and more perfect than yours!" yelled Drew, coming out of her tent.

Piper stormed out of her shared tent and lunged at her drama queen packmate. "I don't give a rat's ass about your precious little hands. You're in the middle of the woods, for Lupa's sake! Your hands will get bloodied, cracked and stained out here, soft hands don't guarantee you a mate. So go back into your tent and look again, I don't have your bloody cream!" she all but yelled. There was hate billowing around in Drew's eyes as she watched Piper stalk back to her tent, shock still evident on her face.

The entire group of Eligibles started whooping and hollering, cheering for Piper because apparently a bunch of people wanted to say that to her, but hadn't the guts to do so. Piper turned around, dropped into a mock curtsey and continued back to her tent. "Well, at least I don't have to wear a mask around Alphas, because we all you that you are too much of a pathetic loser to show your face around Jason." the words acted like bricks being thrown. Heavy, solid blows directed at Piper, whose face went from mad to furious.

She raced at Drew, who blanched and tried to back away from the enraged Piper. I got up from my spot and stepped in between the two of them. Holding Piper back proved difficult, but years of practice holding Malcolm and Rayla down in training paid off. Drew was cowering behind me, I had to roll my eyes at her pathetic behaviour. Shrugging off her hands from my shoulders, I turned around. "Okay, first of all, that, whatever that was, was pathetic. Absolutely pathetic. If your pride is wounded, lashing out at the person who put down in your place isn't going to work."

Pausing, I ran my hands through my hair. "Now, get off the pedestal you put yourself on and open your eyes to the real world, you know, the one that doesn't revolve around you? You are lucky I didn't smack you for the stupid bullshit that just came out of your mouth, so grow up and leave her alone. If anything, you are jealous of her, not the other way around." Letting go of Piper, whose jaw dropped in surprise, I turned and went back to my spot by the fire.

"You heard the lady, Drew. Back off." warned Piper, who followed my lead and went back to her tent.

Deanna, Rayla, Umbra, the Stolls, Luke and hundreds of other Eligibles stood in stunned silence. "Show's over people." yelled Rayla from her spot, becoming the first to break the silence. "Nice job, Annabeth. That was awesome! Now, the timer thingy went off about ten minutes ago, so, can we eat now?"

Laughing, I went to the glass box and lifted the lid. The delicious smell of smoked meat wafted out and blew around the camp site in the night air. "Ray? Can you grab that stick over there?" I asked her, pointing a little ways off at a stick beside another tent.

"Got it." came her reply. She sprinted to grab the stick, but tripped and fell on top of the tent. She hurriedly got up and grabbed the stick and came back, had she been in her wolf form, her tail would have been between her legs because of how embarrassed she was.

"Alright, which one of you just squashed my meal?" bellowed a shorter girl with earth coloured eyes. Yes, her eyes were the colour of dirt, but they also had green slivers shooting through them, like freshly sprouted plants. She emerged from her dwelling and stood up, her brown hair was hanging down by her shoulders and she was clearly not happy. A reddish purple stain was covering the front of her green shirt, clearly made by Rayla falling headlong into the tent. "I know you bastards did this!"

"We didn't do it!" called the Stolls in unison, eyes gleaming like they were in on some big secret. "Katie, darling. My troublesome little brother didn't do anything wrong, none of us did," came Connor's response as he stepped forward and snaked an arm around her shoulders.

"Ummm, Katie? It was my fault, I tripped and fell onto your tent and caused that…..," Rayla gestured towards the stain with her hand. "I really am sorry, I just…"

"Let me stop you there. I know they had something to do with this, even if it was small. I don't think I have ever seen you before, you two are from Wisdom pack aren't you?" Katie asked smiling, but there was still anger in her eyes.

"Yep, I'm Rayla, that's Annabeth," Rayla told her, pointing in my direction. I gave her a small wave before turning back to the meat.

I overhear Rayla ask Katie if she wants to join us, but she declines. I wave Deanna and Piper over, I'm not going to be a pig and take all the cooked meat for myself. Umbra lumbers over and slumps down to the ground and immediately reaches for a piece of meat.

Deanna lowers her head in Umbra's presence, but a nudge from Piper causes her to raise it back up and snatch a piece of meat from the stick. She gobbled it down in a flash as if she hadn't eaten in forever, I hoped that that wasn't the case.

Swallowing the piece I held, I slowly started to clean up the box and the pieces of meat that hadn't been gobbled up by my group of, well, friends. The meat went into a bag that would keep it fresh until it would be needed.

Dusting off my pants, I stood up and stretched. "I'm going to bed, Ray. I'll see the rest of you tomorrow."

Crawling into my sleeping bag without bothering to change or undress, I fell into a dreamless slumber.

~xXx~

"A, we are leaving in ten minutes!" called Rayla, who was poking me awake. I could tell that she wasn't going to give up anytime soon, so I rolled over and blinked sleepily up at her. "Let's go!"

I sat bolt upright and pushed the sleeping bag off of me, before crawling to the entrance of the tent. The sunlight was streaming into the clearing, set everything aglow with golden rays of light. It was beautiful, the world bathed in gold.

"Pretty right? Now come help me put the tent away, it took two of us to set it up. I'd imagine it will need two to take it apart." said Rayla, who was currently wrestling with a tent pole. The whole scene was hilarious and I couldn't help but laugh. "Oh shut up!"

By now, I was laughing so hard that I could barely breathe. "I-I c-can't! Ow!" I stopped laughing instantly, Rayla had pinched me. "I would hunt you down for that, but we have to put the tent away."

"I have been telling you that for five minutes already!" Rayla said, glaring at me indignantly.

We took the tent down and were packed and ready to go in the nick of time. "Alright guys, let's go. We are almost at Lightning pack, but we will be going double time, so everyone SHIFT!"

We took off again at the same ridiculous pace that we had set off on when Wisdom pack had first joined the group of Eligibles. Running through the golden light had set the coats of certain wolves alight with a fire-like gleam. Once again, the Dove pack wolves tried to shove ahead of the group, but to no avail. The other Eligibles had learned how to deal with them already and they were running in a tight formation, so that shoving someone aside wouldn't be easy. The Dove pack wolves were crammed in the places that they had started off in and they were not keen to be stuck. "With all of this running, we should be extra quick for the final test," came Rayla's voice into my head. "I just hope that my mate can catch me."

I snorted, I hoped the same thing. "Yes, well he would have to be." Dodging a branch, I hurried on.

"Oh come on! Annabeth, of course yours will catch you. He's going to be an Heir, maybe even Mystery Male." she said with a wiggle of her eyebrows. "Even if he is older than you, he still has experience."

"Who are we talking about?" asked Piper, nudging me slightly. "Oooh, is it a boy?"

"Maybe," came my answer.

"Yes," said Rayla at the same time. I glared at her, it probably looked stupid. My running without a so much as a squeak escaping from my mouth and then randomly turning and glaring at the wolf on my right.

"Come on A! You have to tell me who he is, I'll simply die if you don't." begged Piper. She stumbled over a root, but caught herself and kept going.

"I don't know his name…," I started.

Piper cut me off, "What does he look like? Is he cute? Is he older than you?" She squealed, "Maybe he's an Heir!"

I sighed, this had gotten way out of control. "I have only ever seen him once, and that was when I was eleven. He was in wolf form, pitch black fur and bright sea coloured eyes…," I trailed off. "Holy schist Ray! Mystery Male is Heir to bloody Ocean pack!"

"Yeah, I know. I have known since the first night you told me, seriously A. That's more than a little sad that you realized this now." she chided, giving me a look that held a slight amount of disappointment.

I felt like an idiot. How could I ignore the most obvious clue? Shaking my head, I kept running and hoped that from my reaction that they could not gage my embarrassment.

"Apparently I have been obsessed trying to find out the identity of the most desired Heir and male. I thought that he had already Mated. " came my begrudgingly confused response.

Rayla rolled her eyes, "According to rumours, he is coming back this year."

Now I was really confused. "Why? Does he want a second Mate or something? I was under the impression that that was made illegal by the Order."

"Yes, but I heard something about his Mate getting murdered by the Black Claw. I mean, it is only a rumour. Who knows how much of it is actually true?" Rayla said, she seemed sorry for the man. Weirdly so.

We ran in silence for awhile, enjoy the cool air that whipped our fur around and watching the tall trees go by as we raced past. "The rumour is right," Piper said suddenly, breaking our silence.

"What?!" came the astounded replies of both Rayla and I. "Are you certain?"

"Of course, he confided in me. I am one of his friends, I thought you knew that and that is why you became friends with me." she retorted, rolling her eyes.

"No! Of course not! We aren't that shallow, we don't become friends with people just so we can get in a good word to our crush," I was in disbelief. "You really think that we would do that?"

She was about to answer me, but was interrupted by the abrupt halt that we came to after running for hours and Kane's shifting back. "Alright guys! It is midday, and we are almost in the capital of Lightning pack. We are about to meet their Eligibles and pack members, as well as meeting the Head of the Order, Zeus Fulmen. So, everyone shift back." At this point, we all obeyed and an eruption of pained groans sounded.

Kane continued, "I will tell you that the path we are taking will get us across Lightning pack in a matter of an hour and a half, so we will also be meeting the Ocean pack Eligibles tonight before we set up camp.

"We will be taking a short break to catch the much needed breath. Then we will return to the other form and continue running for a short while, just to the outskirts of Bolzen, the capital. We will run into the city in the human form we were given. Follow one of the guides to the centre and wait for me, understood?" We nodded, flopping to the ground and taking deep breaths.

Most of us had brought and filled water bottles when we had first stopped two hours ago. Some of the Eligibles were alone in their flopped position, while others sat in groups and chatted about Lupa knows what. Swallowing a large gulp of water, I turned to Rayla, who was laying on the ground in exhaustion, her eyes closed.

Deanna and Umbra had also collapsed to the ground. Deanna's head was between her knees and Umbra was laying flat on his back, his arms behind his head as he lay with his eyes closed. His upper right arm had a tattoo, of what? I couldn't tell. It appeared to be a pair of black wings with writing in them, above that, a word had been written in a fancy script. "It must say 'Mom'." I thought to myself.

It was all rather sweet, just then he sat up and caught me gazing at the tattoo. Umbra held my gaze as he yanked his shirt sleeve down. Taking another drink of my water, I turned away. I could feel his eyes on my back, daring me to look back and question him. When I didn't, he turned away.

"Okay people, let's get a move on. We are almost there, so we will take it slow. Nice and easy, we don't need anyone dying of exhaustion." With more collective groaning, the Eligibles shifted back. Feet and hands to paws, tails emerging, faces elongating to create snouts and ears moving to the tops of heads.

I stretched, "Why does this hurt so much?" I said to no one in particular through my mind link with my friends.

"I know, right?" Deanna agreed, shaking off the twigs and leaves that were strewn throughout her fur.

With much hesitation, we started off again at a much slower pace. It felt better, watching the landscape go by and actually being able to notice the details of the trees and birds and just simply being able to enjoy the surroundings. Jeez, I sound like an Earth pack wolf. But I knew that it wouldn't take long to reach Lightning pack.

~xXx~

Within forty-five minutes, we had reached the outskirts of the capital, Bolzen. "Okay people, we're here. Shift back and assemble in your packs, we are going to split into three groups, one following me straight through to the centre, the other two will follow me and then split off to the left and to the right. We will race through the streets and meet in the centre square. All in agreement?" We nodded and split off into our packs.

"Death pack, Fire pack and Dove pack will follow Carden to the left. Trickster pack, Wisdom pack and Raven pack will follow me through the centre. And Rainbow pack, Noctern pack and Magic pack will follow Aliza to the right. Earth pack, you guys will split into three groups and each group will join one of the Guides to head to the square. Okay?" Kane was looking around for any sign of disagreement, and clearly there wasn't any.

"You ready to go?" I nudged Rayla, who nodded.

"Yeah, of course. Just _waaay_ too tired to do any more running today." she said, letting a small yawn escape her mouth. "I just want to sleep!"

"I get it, one hundred percent." I stretched, and turned back towards Kane, who was watching everyone with his bright blue eye.

"Okay let's go!" Kane hollered and took off running toward the square.

~xXx~

We ran. Whooping and hollering into the square, just like the Guides had led the other Eligibles into Wisdom pack. Following Kane, we poured into the city square cheering for the new Eligibles. Kane had just taken a step forwards to address the crowd, when two young wolves raced in front of him, nearly knocking him down. "Ally, Storm, just what are you doing?" called out a voice from the stage in the centre.

"Sir. We are really sorry, we didn't mean to…," the girl -Ally- was clearly scared of this Eligible. I could see that her bright green eyes were wide with fear. Her partner in crime, the boy- Storm was watching the crowd with his light blue orbs.

"I know, Ally. But you have to be careful around here, you don't need to get hurt. It would really suck if that happened." the Eligible, this Jason person, said gently.

"But Jason, we didn't do anything wrong. We were just having fun, is that now illegal in the Order, too?" Storm snapped back, his arms crossed against his athletic build and narrowing his eyes.

"Storm Kalani, turn around and apologize to Mr. Smith. Ally, you too." Jason was losing patience with the pair.

"I apologize for my conduct, that and the conduct of my friend. We thought we had more time to make it across the square, I guess we didn't. So, please accept my apology on behalf of me and Storm." this little girl was well-spoken, despite appearing to be Low-Gamma.

"What she said." Storm nodded towards Kane. He was promptly yanked down by Ally and knelt beside her.

"I accept your apology, the enthusiasm will do you both good when it is your turn to stand on that stage." Kane told them. His one eye was regarding the children kindly, not a sign of aggression or any other emotion.

They stood up, Ally chasing Storm back to the side of the path that had been cleared for Kane's arrival. "Well, I suppose I must tell you to stand." he boomed out. Those on the stage rose to face him and I was finally able to get a good look at Jason. His blonde hair was cropped short and close to his head, electric blue eyes watched Kane and the crowd for any sign of rebellion. He stood taller than most on the stage, I'd say roughly six foot two inches, but I couldn't be sure. One of his tanned, muscled arms was wrapped around a girl that looked nothing like him, except for her blue eyes. She had short black hair, with a couple of blue streaks through it, pale skin and many freckles across her nose. She only came up to Jason's shoulder, but clearly made up for her lack of height by her attitude.

"I am Kane Smith, one of your Guides and a trainer at Gold pack. Gentlemen, I warn you, screwing around will not make you succeed. Ladies, you have the honor of being trained by some of the finest Warriors and women of Silver. Now, once you step off this stage, you will be fighting for rank and power. You will follow in the steps of parents, friends and ancestors, all it takes is that one step. You have spent hours training for this, so will you do your families proud? Will you protect your Mate at whatever cost? If so, follow me. Ladies and gentlemen of Lightning pack, your future!" Kane cried out, raising a fist in the air.

"Choose well, Eligibles. Your Mate is out there, I can be certain of that." rang the thunderous voice of the Alpha. Zeus Fulmen, in all his glory, stood on a balcony high above the square. His eyes sparkled, with what, I couldn't say for certain. But it didn't calm me down, something was off in his gaze as he looked down upon his subjects. A neatly trimmed beard, the same blonde colour as Jason's hair, adorned his stern face. "Go on and bring pride to Lightning pack!"

The girl beside Jason, jumped off the podium and raced towards our group of Eligibles, with a whoop. Following her lead, the other wolves jumped down and ran towards us. Kane had moved his way to the front of the group and in typical Kane fashion, he bellowed, "SHIFT!"

We maneuvered through the alleys and hurried along the roads, until we made it to the outskirts of Bolzen. There, we spread out into the formation we had been running in all day.

"Hey." Piper said, as she came up beside me, matching me stride for stride.

"Hey, how was being in close quarters with Drew?" I had to ask her. Drew was such a pain in the ass, that Helen was a novice when you compared the two.

"Ehh. She didn't pay me much attention, just spent the entire time in Lightning staring at Jason. You know, the blonde guy?" she said, amusement trickling into her tone.

"Who was staring at Jason?" a new voice asked. Whipping my head to my left, I saw that the black haired girl was running alongside me. "I'm Thalia, by the way."

"Annabeth." was my short response.

"Drew was literally drooling over your brother. It was quite sad, watching the whole thing." Piper answered her, mock pity seeping into her tone.

"So blondie here is Wisdom pack, right? I mean, I'm used to uptightness, but you set the bar really high." Thalia had completely ignored Piper and was focused on me.

"Yes. Why is that any concern of yours?" I fired back, I was used to being called a stick-in-the-mud, or uptight. That wasn't what bugged me, it was her tone. Mocking and mean-spirited.

"Well, I mean….," she trailed off. Her eyes showed an emotion I couldn't pinpoint, it was too wild and complex.

"Look, I don't care what you think about my pack. But as soon as you cross the line towards my family and friends, I won't hesitate to claw you open the second I get the chance. Understood?" I glowered at her, my grey eyes staring her down.

"I knew there was a reason I liked you!" she crowed happily, a toothy grin crossing her black-furred face.

"What's going on?" Rayla pulled up next to Piper, curiosity filling her blue flecked eyes.

"Thalia, Rayla. Rayla, this is Thalia." Piper said, completing the introductions.

"Hey." Rayla greeted her, her face looked less than pleased to be meeting Thalia. I could understand why, the girl radiated cockiness and trouble.

" 'Sup." Thalia said, giving Rayla a nod. She didn't look too thrilled to meet Ray either.

"So, we're running towards Ocean pack to pick up my idiot cousin, again?" Thalia asked. "I wasn't paying attention."

"That depends who your idiot cousin is," I answered. "I mean, it is Ocean pack."

"Listen Anna, watch it. I am very protective of him, so you can either change you attitude about Ocean pack or go hang out with your egotistical friends." she clapped back, a glare replacing the smirk.

I shook my head, and tuned out the conversation between Piper, Rayla and Thalia. I was a hypocrite, threatening her against saying anything regarding my family, then promptly doing the same to her. "So I take it, you will be leaving our group, Blondie?" her voice cut through my thoughts.

"Nope," I answered curtly. "I'll be staying right here."

"Good choice, I was beginning to like you." Thalia grinned. "You're different in many ways from the other Wisdom pack people."

"I don't even want to know why." I told her, a smile playing on my features. I was beginning to like Thalia more and more, why? I can't say, something about the way she acts, like she doesn't give a shit, reminded me of myself.

~xXx~

We kept running, an hour passed. Then fifteen more minutes before Kane stopped. "Water break!" he yelled over the hundreds of panting Eligibles. "We are almost there. Once we have the Ocean pack wolves, we will go for roughly half an hour before stopping and making camp. That way, we can start early tomorrow morning to pick up Blood pack. You have almost made it to the Training schools, just keep it together a little longer."

Flopping to the ground, I pulled my water bottle out of my bag. "Ugh! This hurts!" I moaned, massaging out my calves.

"Thals, water." Jason had come over and thrown a black water bottle at her. The lid hadn't been closed all the way, so she was splashed by the contents of the bottle.

"Hey! What the hell was that for?!" she cried out indignantly, lifting her arms away from her body. Her black T-shirt was soaked, as well as her grey leggings.

I snorted. I couldn't help it, she looked so mad and she was covered in water. For some unknown reason, I found it hilarious.

"You think this is funny, do you? We'll see who's laughing after I'm through with you!" she cried, glaring. Her blue eyes were hard as she took in my laughter.

"Ya know sis, it's actually pretty funny." Jason interrupted, covering his hand with his mouth, as if to seal in the laughter. It didn't work. Soon, all of us, Piper, Rayla, Deanna included were rolling around laughing so hard tears streamed down our faces.

"I-I-I c-c-can't-t bre-e-eath!" Jason gasped, between laughs. Tears ran down his face, falling down his chin onto the fabric of his royal purple shirt.

"Okay, I'm good. I'm good." Thalia wheezed, wiping tears off her face and taking a few needed deep breaths.

Looking around, I could see that the entire group of Eligibles had stopped what they were doing and were gaping at our little group. "Okay people, show's over. Go back to your conversations!" yelled Jason, before turning back to us. "So, you people already know my name, but I have no clue who you three are." he pointed at Deanna, Rayla and I.

"I'm Deanna Sketcher, from Death pack." she told him in a soft voice, her body language showing just how uncomfortable she was with Jason and Thalia's attention.

"Rayla Gables, Wisdom pack. Pleasure to meet you." came Rayla's voice. She too, seemed shy. Which was very odd for her, considering her personality.

"And you are?" Jason trailed off, watching me.

"I'm Annabeth Chase, also Wisdom pack." I nodded towards him.

"Wait, Chase? As in Alpha Chase?" he asked, bewildered. He had crossed his arms, clearly he was used to being in charge. That stance had to have been forced upon him by his father.

"The very same." I answered, meeting his questioning gaze.

"Umm...okay. Wow. That must be tough." Thalia wondered aloud, her hand tapping against her thigh.

"Sure is, but you get used to it." I told her. And I was being truthful, Wisdom pack had felt constricting every since my mother died. Between the snide comments from Helen, the skilled ignoring of my father and the lack of respect from either, I was sick of the place. Life had been so much simpler when I lived as a Gamma with my mother, the Alpha knocked off her throne. I only wished I had had more time with her, Malcolm had known her for three more years than I had. I was only five when my father took the crown from my mother, she died when I had been twelve. No one knew why, except for me. My father was the hand that poured the poison into a basket of treats supposedly left by an old admirer of hers. She died in my arms that night, and I never forgot who had caused this injustice. All to secure the crown for himself. Selfish bastard.

"Let's go people!" Kane shouted, before shifting and taking off through the trees. I stowed my water bottle back in my bag, then shifted and followed him. Jason, Rayla and Thalia racing at my heels.

"Holy crap, Annabeth! You're fast for a.." Jason started.

"For a female?" I retorted, a snarl rising fast in my throat.

"I didn't say that! Nor is that what I intended. I was planning on saying, you're fast for a Wisdom pack wolf that was raised as a Gamma." Jason was wide-eyed and fumbling to clarify his sentence.

I blinked, no one except my family and Wisdom pack knew that I had been raised as a Gamma and I surely didn't say anything out loud to them. I didn't know if I could trust them. My thoughts were clouding my mind, I missed part of what Thalia said and only heard a small portion of the conversation.

"Jeez Jase, don't offend the girl. For all you know, you two could end up as Mates." Thalia laughed, jumping over the fallen tree in the centre of the path. I followed her lead and jumped, clearing the timber and landing on the other side.

"I wasn't trying to offend her!" Jason protested loudly.

"Jason, relax. It's fine, she's just teasing." I reassured him. "And besides, any female who gets you as her Mate, will be very lucky."

"Thanks. Now, I'd race you here, but there isn't much room," Jason's face contorted itself into a very wolfish smirk. "So, next time we are in an open space…."

"Oh you're on!" I grinned. He was going down.

I had been chatting with Jason for so long, I had forgotten about Rayla and Piper. I saw that they were immersed in conversation. Thank Lupa, I still felt horrible. But talking with Jason felt like talking to Malcolm, it was easy. I could tell that he would be a very good friend, but I couldn't see us as Mates. It would be weird, we were good friends already, in a matter of hours. I smiled, I now knew why Piper liked him. They were perfect for each other. I kept going, pushing my wolf to run.

~xXx~

We arrived at the outskirts of Marea, the capital of Ocean pack. Shifting back, we split into our packs. Excitement was unusually high amongst the groups, chatter buzzing between friends. Most people were debating whether or not Percy Jackson was coming back, the majority of people said he was. I shook my head, absolutely ridiculous. I mean, I was hoping actually meet him. If I had taken up as much of his headspace as he had mine, well then he would be as eager as I was to meet.

"Same plan as usual, three pack following Carden, three packs following me and three packs following Aliza. Earth pack, Rainbow pack and Death pack with Carden to the right, Lightning pack, Wisdom pack and Trickster pack with me down the centre as usual and finally, Noctern pack, Magic pack and Fire pack with Aliza to the left. Raven pack Eligibles and Dove pack Eligibles, separate yourselves into three groups and group join one of the three groups already made. Do I make myself clear?" Kane shouted, looking over the groups.

Jason bumped me playfully, I snorted, then shoved him back. Thalia watched us, shaking her head. "I swear you two are little kids."

"I can agree with you on that." Rayla said, squeaking when I shoved her. Piper joined in, knocking into Jason, who fell into me and we collapsed in a pile. With me on the bottom, yay. Fun.

"Ow, ow, ow! Get off." I yelped, struggling against the combined weight of Jason and Piper. They leapt off and offered me a hand, pulling me to my feet. "Thanks."

"You okay?" Piper asked. She looked concerned, so when I nodded, I could see relief on her features. "C'mon, we're falling behind!"

We chased after the group going down the middle, weaving our way through other Eligibles, so we could be one of the first to see Ocean pack in its whole. It was exciting, running through the cobbled streets that made up Ocean pack. I hadn't been here in seven years and as much as it pained me to say, I enjoyed being able to come back. Thalia and Rayla flanked me as we ran together, hopefully the not so Mystery Male was going to be in attendance as a veteran Eligible. Apparently, he was one of the best to ever go through the Games and the Training Schools, along with Hunter Hayes, who would be training the boys.

"Welcome to Ocean pack!" boomed a large voice that rolled over all of us. Looking up, I could see the Alpha, Poseidon Oceanum, his wife whose name I didn't know, and two younger pups. But he wasn't up there. Hushed whispered flew through the group that Percy Jackson wasn't up on the balcony, that he would have to be on the stage in the middle. The kneeling Eligibles each made a gesture by placing their left fist to their right forearm, a symbol of respect for their leader, no doubt.

Kane gave a small bow towards the Alpha, before commanding the Eligibles to stand. "You are the future, you walk in the footsteps of your siblings, parents and those before you. I am Kane Smith, known as the Collector because of my being a Guide as well as a Trainer to the gentlemen. Ladies, you will be trained by the best warriors of Silver. You take the step off of the platform to begin your quest for a Mate. Some of you will find your Mate in the groups behind and beside me, others have yet to join us. Stepping off proves your acceptance of the battles you will enter. Battles for rank and possibly even for Mates. It is no small responsibility, the finding of a Mate…."

I was checking faces on the platform, looking for one that had eyes the colour of water. I noticed Thalia waving and followed her line of sight to a tall Eligible, one with pitch black hair and sea-green eyes. It was him.

"Jason," Thalia hissed. "Wave to him."

Jason was now too scanning faces on the platform, before finding the right one and waving to him.

Percy was watching Jason and gave him a nod, he didn't look happy to be on the stage or near it, for that matter. I had tuned Kane out, and I jumped when cheers broke out across and throughout the square as the Eligibles ran to join us.

They followed us out of Marea, to the outskirts where we were planning on setting up camp. Piper, Thalia and Jason were all chatting with Percy while running, but I kept running, ignoring whatever they were discussing.

~xXx~

We stopped about twenty minutes later to set up camp. Rayla and I had pulled out the tent and were busy setting it up. Piper and Thalia were on one side, with Jason and Percy on the other. Deanna was now sharing a tent with Katie, who looked pleased to have someone stay with her. I smiled, this was surreal. I couldn't believe we were so close. I had two more years after this, if by some bizarre chance I didn't get a mate. "Anna? Are you okay?" Rayla called out to me.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm okay. Don't worry." I gave her a small smile before looking over at Piper's tent, which was flopped over.

"I don't understand! I put it up the way I know how to! This piece of shit is being stupid!" yelled Thalia, as she gave the tent a hard kick.

"You guys need help?" I asked, a smile threatening to cross my face.

"Fine, smarty-pants. How does this stupid thing go up?" Thalia snapped as I bent down to examine the posts.

"That one goes over there." an unfamiliar voice sounded from behind me.

Whipping around, I saw Percy Jackson standing behind me, a smug look on his face. He had his arms crossed against his tanned muscular frame, his black shirt fitting him perfectly across the shoulders. Two sea-green eyes watched me and black hair was tousled all over the top of his head, like he had spent time lots of time running. Which he had. "Like the view?" he said, the smirk getting bigger.

Glaring, I turned back to the posts and yanked out the two misplaced ones. I stabbed them into the ground where they should have been. Standing back up, I used my foot to stomp them deeper down. "Not so hard, eh Princess?" Percy remarked. The stupid look adorning his face, just above his chiselled jaw.

"What is your problem with me?" I asked, glaring at him. Again.

"My problem with you? What is my problem with you? I don't have one, it's all in your head." that smirk was so close to getting torn from his lips. "Wait? Grey eyes?"

Thalia nodded smugly as if she knew something we both didn't.

Eyes wide, "It's you!" we said in unison. "Why you?"

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 **I know it took waaay too long to do this chapter, but it is the longest thing I have ever written. So please be happy! I want to know what I can fix and how I can improve my writing. So please, please, please review! I love getting to read your thoughts on my work, it means the world to me. So review, review, review! Hopefully my inbox is full of reviews and comments in the next few days. Love so much!**

 **Your fellow Fictioner and Fangirl,**

 **Cinder Luna**


	8. (Chpt6) Moving on? Maybe not

**Hey luvs! I am so sorry about this wait! It was so bad that somebody actually asked me if I was dead. I feel really bad and hopefully this makes up for it, because another chapter, yay! I hope. This probably sucks, I hope it doesn't, but it probably does. To be honest, I don't really care. Either way, it's here and ready to read. So hopefully it makes up for my absence. So enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing except my characters and the plot.**

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 _"Staring at the ceiling in the dark,_

 _Same old empty feeling in your heart._

 _Cause love comes slow,_

 _And it goes so fast."_

 _-Let Her Go, Passenger_

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 **Percy POV**

Tossing and turning, I could see myself back in this nightmarish memory once again. I was back in the farthest garden from the Big House, on the night my father hosted the emergency meeting about the Black Claw attacks. I was twelve years old again, without a care in the world. I didn't completely understand my future role in the Order yet, but had I been allowed to sit in, I could have furthered my knowledge on the inner workings of the Order. Moving my head ever so slightly, I could make out my paws, but there was a pair of grey eyes blinking back through the darkness at me. Dream-me crept towards the eyes, curiosity taking over.

The eyes, ever staring, multiplied in number, silver eyes glaring at dream-me. Stepping back, I could see I was surrounded. I tried to seek out the original pair of eyes, but they were gone-replaced by a pair of shocking green eyes that I knew all too well. Dream-me sputtered and yelled for help, to escape the monsters that were the Order's most notorious traitors.

Gasping and rolling over to see the clock allowed me to breathe deeply, now that I was back in my bed. But in the moment, I sat up with a start, my clock displayed the time, 12:45 pm.

"Percy, are you up yet?" came my mother's yell from down the hall. Hearing smaller footsteps, my siblings must be up as well.

I groaned, the dream had kept me awake for most of the night, and even though today was the day that we, Ocean pack, would be picked up for the Training schools, I wasn't happy and I wanted to go back to sleep. "Sadly!" I hollered back, as I stood up and stretched out.

I had been reaching for the glass of water, sitting on my nightstand, when my door flew open, banged into the wall and I was attacked by a small blonde monster and a larger, blockier monster. My siblings, what would I do without them to wake me up in the mornings -well, in this case, the afternoon. "Percy, don't go!" wailed Estelle, clinging to my leg.

I smiled, she was so adorable. "Little Star, I have too and soon someday, you will go as well." I told her, trying to dislodge her hands from my leg.

"But I don't want to!" she said, looking up at me. Her green eyes were watching me, and she refused to let go.

"Little Star, can you let go of me? I have to get dressed, I know you don't want me to leave, but can I at least shower first?" I sighed, shaking my head and raking my hand through my severe bed head, to no avail.

"Fine, but before you leave, Percy, can you play dolls with me?" she all but begged me, finally letting go of my leg. Estelle smiled before skipping out of my room to the stairs.

Groaning, I wandered into my bathroom and turned on the water. I stripped down and stepped under the stream of water. Twenty minutes later, I stepped out and began to dry off.

Redressing, I wiped the steam from the mirror to stare at my reflection. My sea-coloured eyes were ringed with slight mauve, I looked like a zombie. I rubbed my face, trying to erase the dark circles, but it didn't do anything, if anything it made the circles stand out even more.

I wrapped my towel around my hips and opened the bathroom door. When I walked into my room, Tyson was sitting on my bed fiddling with the comforter. "Hey, Buster. Something you need?" I asked him, reaching for a T-shirt and a pair of pants.

"No. I wanted to ask you something." he said, eyes flicking downwards. He looked worried, small creases crossing his forehead and he was still playing with my blanket.

"Okay, go ahead," I told him, upon seeing the look on his face, I added, "What's wrong?"

"What is the school like? And should I be scared?" Tyson rambled, finally looking up at me.

"Well, the school is tough. But lots of training will help you do well in the testing and the Games. And besides, being scared is okay. It just means that you want to do well." I told him, sitting down on the bed.

"But, why does that happen? Why is being scared okay? I've never seen you get scared before." he questioned, before dropping the comforter.

"Here's the thing, Tyson. Being scared is how you know you're alive, if you don't get scared, well, you are either dead or not capable of feeling anything.

"And of course I get scared, I've just learned how to hide it from others. Just because you don't see it, doesn't mean that it isn't there. Same thing with every other wolf in the Order, they all get scared. Well, maybe not Black Claw wolves, but then again, you would have to be heartless to join them." I told him, my hand rubbing comforting circles on his back.

"Okay, so being scared is okay and I need to train more to succeed." Tyson concluded, gazing up at me.

"Yep, that more or less describes everything," I told him. "Now scram, I have to get dressed."

~xXx~

I made my way downstairs to the Great Hall, where my father and mother sat, eating a late breakfast. I pulled out a chair and sat down, helping myself to pancakes and bacon. "So son, are you ready for the second year of Aurum Ludum?" my father asked me.

I must have looked confused, because he clarified. "The Gold school?"

"I'd rather not be going back, to be honest." I told them, before digging into my pancakes.

"Why's that?" asked my dad. He clearly wasn't understanding that I was not interested in have this conversation at the moment.

"I just don't, okay? Hunter freakin Hayes is a Trainer this year, second year at the schools is going to be harder than the first, and can talk about something else?" I rambled, shutting myself up by shoving more bacon into my mouth.

My mother opened her mouth to say something, but a glance at my father caused her to close it. "Son, you know that in this Big House, we respect those with a higher rank. Watch what you say." my father said, his tone warning me, daring me to cross the line in the sand.

I scowled and turned back to to my pancakes, silently begging someone to get me out of here. "Percy," began my mother. "Have you finished packing?"

I nodded, my mouth still full of pancake. Syrup rolled down my chin, falling back onto the plate that once held my food. Swallowing, I gave her an answer. "Almost, just have a few thing I want to do and pack before I go."

"May I take your plate, Sir?" came a shy voice from my left. One of the servants was standing at my elbow, tray in hand, waiting to clear my plate.

"Yes, go ahead. Thank you, Aylin." I smiled at her. Bobbing into a small curtsy, she gave a faint smile and left with my breakfast dishes.

~xXx~

I wandered to the Training yard, again Chiron was watching a group of soldiers pummel each other. "Chiron!" I called to him.

He smiled and waved me over to him. Breaking into a jog, I made my way through the armoury and past the barracks to join him on the edge of the ring. "So, Percy. Do you have any last questions for your old teacher?" the smile on his face became kinder and softer.

"I can't come over here to say goodbye now? Is that now a crime?" I had a smug look on my face as I knelt beside his wheelchair, looking up at him.

"No. It is never a crime." he told me kindly. Giving my hair a ruffle, he pointed towards two soldiers. "I can't seem to get Keelie to remember to attack Dylan when he has let his guard down just slightly. Defending is her strong suit, attacking, not so much."

"Well, maybe she just needs to go up against a more defensive fighter. Like when you had me go up against Caspian when I needed to learn defence. That way she can learn to find the openings and use them to her advantage." I suggested, following Keelie as Dylan drove her back into a corner.

I could tell that Keelie was a newer soldier. Maybe she just got out of training camp in either Blood pack or Romani pack, or maybe she was homegrown, still learning all she could before being sent to training camp. Watching her best Dylan in defensive hand-to-hand combat, reminded me of when I fought and trained with the soldiers. The sun hit her copper-coloured hair with a flash and her eyes were narrowed, a look I had seen many soldiers use before. "She's good." I remarked to Chiron, looking over at him. He too, was watching the two of them enter combat again.

He nodded. "I know you didn't come here to watch soldiers fight. Anything you need, Perseus?"

"Yes. Tyson is worried about going to the Training schools and fighting others. He doesn't want to seem weak, he voiced his concerns to me this morning." I told him, my fingers fidgeting with the hem of my shirt.

"Well, if he's anything like you, he will do just fine. But I can intensify his training, have him train with the soldiers, if that is what you think he needs." came Chiron's response. He was looking at me now, his face looking thoughtful. "But he needs to come to me on his own, I will help him as a favour to you, but again, he is deciding his own training. He needs to learn to take control of his training and do what he thinks he needs to do to succeed.

"Perseus, you have a second chance. Don't waste it, promise me that. You owe me that much." Chiron's eyes were shining with pride. "You will make everyone proud, you did the first time, so you know what you are capable of. You can change your future, don't settle for what you have been given."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing, Chiron had never said anything like that before, at least not me. "I will promise you that. I can't say for sure that I will make it into the Games again, or that I will even find another Mate. But I will try." I told him. And I meant it. I felt like I owed him this, for some insane reason, I needed to.

Chiron's hand rested on my shoulder, comfortingly. "Do your best, Your Highness. That is all I ask of you."

"Of course, Chiron." I nodded, standing up and clasping his hand in the weird way we guys do.

"Safe travels, Perseus." came his reply as I headed back towards the familiar world that was the Big House.

~xXx~

I had put it off for too long, I knew it from the moment my foot touched the first step. "Percy!" yelled Estelle. "You promised!"

Oh crap. I had promised her that I would play dolls before I left. And I wasn't in the mood for make-believe, okay, that was rude. But I wanted to do something else. I wasn't in the mood to play dolls.

"Coming!" I called back, wondering how she heard me. I tend to be stealth, well, at least in my personal opinion.

"Hurry! I want to make sure that my doll can go to the Games, like you!" came her earnest reply.

I ran up the steps and tiptoed to her door. When she opened it to yell at me again, I popped up and roared.

Her scream startled the maid going down the hall. She dropped the tray and cleaning supplies tumbled to the ground. "I am so sorry, Sir. I will clean it up right away." she said, dropping to her knees and began to pick up the fallen items.

"Here, let me help." I told her, dropping yo a crouch to help her pick up the remaining objects.

Her eyes were wide with fright as I approached her and placed the cloths and duster on the silver tray. "N-no. I-I've got it, Sir."

"Star, have you and Tyson been scaring the maids again with horror stories about me?" I questioned my little sister.

She shook her head and vanished into her room without a word.

I gave the maid a smile and barged into Estelle's room. "What did I tell you about doing that?" I demanded, my arms were crossed as I looked down on her.

"I don't see why I can't do the same things you did to the servants when you were little." she clapped back. She was trying to stare me down, and it was a little frightening.

"Because every time I did something like that, Dad would make me run laps around the garden until I couldn't run anymore." I told her, lifting her up and dropping her on the bed. Estelle's eyes widened, she didn't seem to believe me, so I continued. "What was even worse, was that I would get…..TICKLED!" I told her, pausing before I pounced to tickle her.

She shrieked, her hands slapping weakly against my arms, trying to shove me away. "P-percy s-stop!" she cried, laughing so hard that tears rolled down her cheeks.

"Never!" I told her, changing my voice so it sounded cartoonish and bizarre.

I grunted, Estelle had kicked me in the ribs. Faking extreme pain, I rolled off the bed and onto the floor, clutching my stomach. "I win!" she crowed happily, looking down at me with a large smile plastered across her face.

"Percy," came my mom's voice. "We have something for you." I sat up and looked at Estelle's clock, 1:50 pm. I had been fortunate growing up, I always had presents on my birthday and pack holidays. I never had to worry about a food shortage, I had to earn some things, but it wasn't life or death. Some of the wolves I would be fighting and training against had to earn every single thing in their lives. They couldn't take a day off, they wanted this more than I could imagine. I had to prove I was worthy of the title of Alpha, losing to a lower rank would create a wave of embarrassment and shame towards my family and the pack. I wouldn't let that happen.

Not one to keep them waiting, I threw Estelle over my shoulder and hurried down the stairs to meet my parents and brother.

~xXx~

My parents were standing at the bottom of the stairs, smiles adorning their faces. "Percy," called my mother when she saw me, and then. "Put your sister down."

Smirking, I set her down on the stairs and watched her run towards Tyson, who picked her up and swung her around. "Coming."

My father stepped forwards and met me on the second to last step. "Do us proud, son." he told me, smiling.

I was confused, my dad wasn't one for kind gestures. Especially not now, I had failed to protect my first mate. To him, I had neglected my duty. And that was inexcusable.

I nodded. "I will, Father. You have my word, I won't let you down."

That seemed to satisfy him, he let me pass and I faced my mother. She looked at me with pride, a loving gaze that I would miss when I left. To her, I was her baby. The first born, the irreplaceable. "You already know I am proud of you, Perseus. Find her, the real one." I smiled as she wrapped her arms around me and pulled me into a hug.

"Now, what next, Father?" I asked, my gaze diverted towards the large centrepiece being carried into the Great Hall.

"Well, why don't you find out?" he told me, a playful gleam in his eyes.

I followed the centrepiece into the room, it was strangely dark. I couldn't see a thing, then the lights flicked on and the entire court shouted, "CONGRATS!"

I jumped back. I hated surprises, but this was perfect. It wasn't everyday that someone attended the Games again, after already Mating. The Games allowed the young to get a head start on finding their Mate. You could find your Mate at anytime, but you could spend a lifetime searching. I knew that my second chance was out there, at least I hoped she was.

"What the hell?!" I exclaimed, my family had large smiles across their faces and I knew I was lucky in the family department. "Guys, you didn't have to do this."

"Of course we did. You are going to the school again. We needed to show you how lucky you are." my mother had once again pulled me into a hug. I fell into it, committing the feeling to memory. "Now, let's eat!"

~XxX~

I had ten minutes to go. The Ocean pack Eligibles had arrived and had covered the wooden platform in the centre square. My family had taken to the balcony above the square and watched as the group shifted nervously. "Why is Jackson here? Does he need another Mate?" a voice snapped.

I turned, I stood on the ground near the platform, but my presence alone caused some jitters. "I'm sorry, but what did you say?"

"Nothing!" the young Eligible said, startled.

"That's what I thought." I turned back to face the front.

At that moment, the collected Eligibles burst into the square, cheering loudly. I looked for my cousins in the crowd, but I could only distinguish Jason in the crowd. He waved, and I gave him a small nod in return.

My father bellowed, "Welcome to Ocean pack!" I could also see eyes flitting in the crowd, looking for me up in the balcony. Then whispers broke out, clearly surprised to see me standing with the Eligibles, but I couldn't care less. What they thought of me didn't matter.

Kane's voice broke through my thoughts. "You are the future, you walk in the footsteps of your siblings, parents and those before you. I am Kane Smith, known as the Collector because of my being a Guide as well as a Trainer to the gentlemen. Ladies, you will be trained by the best warriors of Silver. You take the step off of the platform to begin your quest for a Mate. Some of you will find your Mate in the groups behind and beside me, others have yet to join us. Stepping off proves your acceptance of the battles you will enter. Battles for rank and possibly even for Mates. It is no small responsibility, the finding of a Mate. You are here because are willing to get a headstart, you would rather spend your life with your Mate, than spend your life searching."

After this speech, cheers rang out. It felt surreal to be in the same spot again. Stepping away from the platform, we raced out of the capital, jostling each other for the best spots. I smirked, this was the easy part. If wolves lost their footing here, they wouldn't make it at the schools. It was sad, but true. "Hey cuz." came a voice from my right side.

Thalia had wormed her way through the crowd to run by my side. "Hey, you find him or her yet?" I asked her, concentrating on a bouncing blonde ponytail a few feet away from me.

"Nah, not yet. Jason has a crush though." she said.

"Not true!" Jason said, indignantly. He had joined me on the left, his breathing slightly heavy. His blonde hair had been cut shorter than when I last saw him.

"Yes, you do. You have a thing for Pi-." Thalia started.

"Again, I don't. There is nothing going on." Jason protested loudly.

I shook my head. The two of them were ridiculous, always arguing, but they were also loyal to the core. I kept running, the two siblings bickering about crushes.

~XxX~

We stopped about twenty minutes later to set up camp. Jason had pulled me aside and we started to set up camp. The tent was set up and I began to unpack, Jason had gone out to help his sister who began hollering. "I don't understand! I put it up the way I know how to! This piece of shit is being stupid!" yelled Thalia.

I came out of the fabric and crossed the clearing to see the blonde haired girl kneeling by a tent post.

"Fine, smarty-pants. How does this stupid thing go up?" Thalia snapped, leaning over the girl as she worked.

"That one goes over there." came my voice. I was startled, I hadn't meant to alert them to my presence.

The blonde girl whipped around and I finally saw her face. Intense grey eyes glared back at me, her honey coloured hair was escaping the elastic that tied back. She was slim, athletically so, and her tanned face was contorted into a frown. She appeared to be giving me a once over, and once she met my gaze, her eyes widened in surprise. "Like the view?" I said, my smirk getting bigger.

She glared at me and turned back around. Pulling out two misplaced tent posts, she stabbed them into the correct spot, then she stomped them deeper in the ground. "Not so hard, eh Princess?" I remarked.

"What is your problem with me?" she demanded, glaring at me.

"My problem with you? What is my problem with you? I don't have one, it's all in your head." Her glare intensified, and she looked like she wanted to murder me "Wait? Grey eyes?" I was shocked.

Thalia nodded smugly.

Eyes wide, "It's you!" we said in unison. "Why you?"

"Why are you here?" she snapped. I clearly hadn't been on her mind, like she had been in mine.

"Same reason you are, Princess." Jeez, what was wrong with me? I was acting like some selfish, rich jerk.

"Call me Princess one more time, and I can promise you that you will lack the balls to do anything." she threatened, before turning and stomping towards her tent.

"Hate to admit it, Perce, but you kind of deserved that." Thalia told me. "She has a difficult life."

"Just because her life sucks doesn't mean she can threaten to remove my man-hood." turning to face Thalia.

"Percy, just trust me on this. Annabeth-."

"Annabeth?! As in Annabeth Chase, daughter of Alpha Chase?!" I exclaimed loudly, cutting Thalia off.

"Yes, the very same. And she is pretty cool." she responded.

"Wisdom pack, cool? Those two don't go together, T. You know that." I couldn't believe that she was siding with the Wisdom freak.

I know it sounds terrible, but I have never met a Wisdom pack wolf that openly agreed with me and didn't insult me for not understanding something.

"Look, when you stop acting like a moron, let me know. In the meantime, I will be with the 'Wisdom freak'." she snapped, turning towards Annabeth and this other girl with dirty blonde hair and a mischievous look on her face.

I sighed and was about to turn and enter my tent when I was attacked from behind by a wolf that smelt of campfire. Leo.

"Man, what was that about?" he asked, scratching his head. Leo is a Fire pack wolf, one of the Alpha's three children. He received his dad's curly dark brown hair that is never lays flat, he looks like a elf from a storybook my mother used to read to me, but you know, not as pale. Scratch that, he had this golden tan skin tone going on, my mother's words, not mine. Also, he isn't the tallest person I know. He is pretty short, I would bet that Blondie, ya know the one who threatened to strip me of my...organs, is taller than he is.

"I have no idea. But, maybe not do what I just did." I told him, my brow furrowing. "And never sneak up on me."

"Sounds good to me, bro. I mean, the only reason I'm good with the ladies, is because you make the dumb mistakes for me." I scoffed, Leo was always going on about his skills. "What was that noise? Are you laughing at me?"

"No." it was all I could do to not burst out laughing. "And what noise? I didn't make a noise."

"Sure, you don't think I can get with her. Well, the joke's gonna be on you, 'cause I'm gonna win her over." he said, determination sparking fires in his copper coloured eyes. His cheeks had gone red. He was oblivious to his shortcomings, not that that was a problem. He was very confident and I had to give him credit for that. "Hey babe."

I spun around to see Leo with his arm around Blondie's waist. He had guts to do something like that. "I am not your 'babe', so never call me that again." her eyes flashed dangerously. Leo was going to get pummeled if I didn't do something.

"Dude, c'mon. Jase wanted to talk to you." I told him as I ventured closer to pair of them. "Trust me, not something you want to miss."

"Did you put him up to this, Jackson?" she spat out, her grey eyes flashing with hatred. "Am I just something to pity?"

"Easy, Anna. He just stopped you from murdering his friend, no need to bite the poor guy's head off. Besides, isn't he…?" an unknown girl said, nudging Blondie. "I'm Rayla, by the way."

"Cool to meet you, Rayla. I'm Percy." I told her, taking in her appearance. She had light brown hair and her grey eyes were wide and ringed with light blue, she was slightly taller than her friend and couldn't help but notice a scar underneath her right eye.

"Yeah, I know. And nice to meet you as well." she turned back and started ushering Blondie back into their shared tent. "Oh and Percy, her name is Annabeth, not Blondie." I was shocked, it was like she could see into my brain. "No, I can't read minds."

She was freaking me out, I headed back to my tent, where Jason was talking with Leo, Connor, Travis, Nico and this big Death pack male. "...as I said, stupid idea, Leo. She will eat you alive." Jason said.

"I mean, dude, she's waaaay out of your league." that one sounded like Travis.

I crept up behind the group and jumped out yelling. "BLAAAGHH!" they jumped about a foot off the ground. I started laughing hysterically from where I stood, typical guys. They had no sense of danger in them. Then the big guy stood up and walked right up to me, he did not look friendly. In the evening shadows, he looked intimidating. But I had fought against bigger guys, so I was curious as to what would happen next.

"Umbra, dude. It's okay, we know this pain in the ass." Jason said, jumping up from his place on a stump. "Percy, what the hell was that for?"

"Just because. And, those jokers deserved it." I pointed at the Stolls, who were still sitting on the floor of the clearing from when they'd fallen when I scared the living daylights out of them.

"No, we didn't!" they chorused as they picked themselves off the ground and sat back down on their stumps.

"So, the last time you and your father visited, there just happened to be choke cherries in the barracks washing machine?" I questioned, raising an eyebrow, my arms crossed across my body. "And it just so happened to turn the uniforms bright red?"

The clowns burst out laughing so hard that they fell off the stumps yet again. "T-th-that w-was a-am-amazing!"

"So you'll think it will be hilarious when you go home only to find that the wardrobe of your entire Big House was dyed blue with indigo?" I said, laughter creeping into my voice.

"Wait what? How did you…?" Travis was stunned, he hated being out-pranked.

"Simple, you have made a lot of enemies with your constant pranks. I had a friend traveling there for business and I sent the package along with them. They gave it the laundresses and voila. Instant blue clothes. I would also watch your backs, everyone thinks it was you two." I smirked, Nico and the others were now laughing at the faces of the twins.

"Real classy, boys." I looked up and saw Thalia, Rayla and Annabeth standing there. They looked somewhat amused and disappointed. "A, haven't we done better than that?" Rayla asked her packmate.

"Not really. But I guess swapping out my step-mother's perfume for liquified garlic was pretty awesome." Annabeth said, looking completely serious.

"Wait, you actually did that?" I was impressed, she kinda seemed like a buzz-kill. But everyone has secret sides of themselves, so you never know exactly who you are dealing with.

"Oh yeah, I had completely forgotten about that!" Rayla exclaimed. The girls sat down by the fire we had made and made themselves comfortable.

"Annabeth?" the voice didn't sound right. It seemed like a young pup had snuck in to the camp. I watched as she turned around to face a young female, probably a Gamma or an Omega by her size.

"Deanna? Is there something you need?'' Annabeth's voice had become gentle as she rose and guided the girl away. They spoke softly, and the girl reached out and wrapped Annabeth into a hug. Umbra rose and headed over to them, he placed a hand on the shoulder of the strange girl and muttered something. The whole situation seemed strangely familiar, then I remembered RED meeting Estelle for the first time. We had ended up in a standing position like that one. Rachel hugging Estelle, as Star hugged her back, my hand had sat on RED's shoulder like Umbra's did on this girl.

I turned away. The memory had surfaced for some reason, I hadn't thought about something like that in months. It gutted me to remember that, standing in that way resembled a family. Something I would never have with the girl I loved so dearly. "Perce, are you okay?"

Thalia had a concerned look on her face, and Rayla was looking at me curiously, her eyes flicking over my face looking for some sort of emotion.

"I'm fine." I snapped. Running my hand through my hair, I suddenly felt guilty. They didn't know what I had gone through, and I sure as hell wasn't about to tell them my past. Only a select few knew what had happened.

"Perce...what's going on? You've been in this weird mood for awhile now and I'm getting worried." Jason asked, concern filling his blue eyes that flickered in the light of the flames.

"It's nothing." I brushed off his concern and watched Annabeth walk back over to where we sat beside the flames glowing brightly in the fast fading evening light.

"Hey." she said softly, as she sat down beside me. "Everything okay?"

Great, even she picked up on this black mood. "I'm fine." I repeated for the second time. She gave me a look. I couldn't place the emotions mixed in her grey eyes, it was disconcerting. She looked beautiful, with the flames washing over her- wait what? Why was I thinking about that?

I shook my head, and stared into the embers in front of me. Rayla started laughing. "Travis! Stop it!" she squealed, falling over onto the ground as he continued tickling her with this long fluffy feather.

Thalia grabbed the feather and threw it into the flames to Travis' horror. He started chasing her around the clearing and the group exploded into laughter.

Night fell and soon we were the only ones outside. It didn't seem real, that I got this second chance, that I was with my friends and met these new people.

Smiling to myself, I got up and climbed into my tent that I was sharing with Jason. I was honestly afraid to move forwards in my story, to move on from Rachel, but it was time. "Hey dude, move over." Jason said as he entered the tent, shoving me to the side.

I groaned. "Fine." I then rolled over, away from him. This day was exhausting, between my father's expectations and the feelings of me moving on from the girl I loved so dearly. Only Lupa knew what my future held, and funnily enough here I was, using her name to explain something and I didn't believe in that bullshit.

"This world has some explaining to do." I mumbled sleepily to myself, before I slowly drifted off. I didn't even notice the crunching of branches at the other end of the clearing, a mistake I would later regret.

* * *

 **So? What do you think? Again, sorry for long wait. But please tell me what you think in the reviews or if you don't want to review, you can PM me. This wouldn't be successful without you, so I love you all so much. Thanks luvs!**

 **Your fellow Fictioner and Fangirl,**

 **Cinder Luna**


	9. Not a chapter, sorry

**I am so, so, so, so sorry for abandoning you all! Writer's block is a bitch and that is why nothing has been updated in so long. I hate forgetting about stories and it makes me sad to have to put this on the back burner, I have a deadline on another long piece of writing and that has been a priority and I will do my best to get something up on The Order, even if it is just a sneak peak.**

 **Also, just recently, Dimitri Jinx, another friend of ours, and I have created a group Instagram account called _aspiring._.authors ._ The account's main purpose is to help other aspiring authours navigate the do's and don'ts of the writing world. And, when the new chapter is finally up, I may or may not be posting when it will be added here. **

**We are hoping to do writing prompts, writing advice, ideas for stories in general, character developpement, commissions (I don't know how that will work, but ok), poems and short stories. If any of that seems like something you'd be into, follow us and share your thoughts.**

 **None of this is obligatory and you will still be my Fictioners even if you don't follow.**

 **Like I said, I will pull some strings to throw up a sneak peek maybe later this week.**

 **Love you lots, Fictioners!**

 **Your fellow Fictioner and Fangirl,**

 **Cinder Luna**


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